Extreme conditions could pose a challenge to firefighters battling two blazes that threatened residents and homes in Perth.

Emergency warnings were issued on Thursday for bushfires in Perth’s south and north-east.

Residents were advised to evacuate from areas of Kenwick, Wattle Grove, Maddington and Beckenham, while the main runway at Perth Airport was closed.

Later on Thursday, the fires were downgraded to watch and act.

A second uncontained fire is burning in Bullsbrook, Upper Swan and Walyunga National Park.

Conditions are expected to worsen over the weekend, which could cause the fires to flare up.

The situation was “really difficult”, Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner Danny Monsconi said.

“We’ve got wind speeds of around 20km/h, but they’re gusting up to 50 kilometres,” he told ABC Radio on Thursday afternoon.

“Pretty challenging.”

There had been no confirmed reports of damaged or destroyed properties, Monsconi said.

TV footage showed several homes in a semi-rural area near the blaze, which is partly burning in a wetlands nature reserve.

Thick plumes of smoke billowed into the sky, and trees and bush were burning across a broad fire front.

An evacuation centre was opened at Maddington Community Centre.

Bushfire aftermath

More than three dozen homes were destroyed in the past week after blazes in Tasmania and NSW, including one that claimed a firefighter’s life.

An inferno at Koolewong, on the NSW Central Coast, required more than 250 firefighters and razed 16 homes in an hour at its peak on Saturday.

Fire services have warned of complacency after reduced activity in recent years.

Disaster assistance funding, including for clothing and other essentials, has been activated in several fire-affected parts of NSW and Tasmania.

Rural Fire Service commissioner Trent Curtin warned high temperatures were drying fuel loads and creating disastrous conditions.

“If we don’t see rain in the next few weeks, we will continue to see very dangerous and elevated fire danger across the state,” he said.

Investigations into the cause of the Koolewong blaze are ongoing but, in an update on Wednesday, police suggested they had not found any evidence it was deliberately lit.

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-with AAP