An out-of-control bushfire has destroyed a home and a service station as it continues to threaten lives on Perth's northern fringe, with residents sheltering at evacuation centres.
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An emergency warning has been extended to residents in Two Rocks, Breakwater Estate, Seatree Estates, Neergabby, Gabbadah, Seabird, Wanerie, Breton Bay, Yeal, Beermullah, Muckenburra, northern parts of Yanchep, Wilbinga, Caraban, Guilderton and Woodbridge.
A watch and act alert is in place for other parts of Yanchep and Eglington.
There are 235 firefighters battling the blaze, which has blackened more than 5000 hectares since Wednesday and is moving southwest.
"It is running. There is no method of stopping it at the moment," Incident controller Andy Hinton told reporters on Friday.
One home in Yanchep had been razed on the property next to a service station also claimed in the fires, he confirmed.
"It was horrible," he said.
The Vaz family shared their devastation of losing the service station on social media.
"We are anxiously waiting to be able to see the remains of what once was the backbone of Yanchep," they wrote.
"For three generations, we were doing our part as a local business to help build Yanchep to what it is today."
Some other outbuildings have also been damaged, the fire service says.
For those on the fire ground, a temperature drop is needed before they fix a control line.
"We know the temperature is not going down overnight," Mr Hinton said.
"We have been in an extended period of dryness through the spring, the fuel is ready. We have been observing drug fuel for quite a period of time ... right now it is running through all fuel.
"The strategy is to wait for it to come down and fix in a control line."
The temperature is set to hit the low-40s over the weekend in the area.
Authorities are pleading with residents to enact their fire plans.
"There's a common slogan - don't expect a fire truck outside your house; you may not be protected and saved by the response," Mr Hinton said.
"Make the right decision by your family now and evacuate early. These are those days when the response cannot cope."
Temporary evacuation centres have been set up at Gumblossom Community Centre in Quinns Rocks and Granville Civic Centre in Gingin.
Several roads, schools, childcare centres and the Yanchep National Park have been closed, while hundreds of Western Power customers are experiencing outages.
A separate emergency warning for a blaze in the northern parts of Roleystone in the City of Armadale has been downgraded to the lowest level.
Australian Associated Press
