Updated
A bushfire that threatened lives and homes near a popular hiking spot in the Perth Hills has been downgraded.
An emergency warning was declared just after 4:00pm for a fire burning in Lesmurdie Falls National Park in the suburbs of Forrestfield, Kalamunda and Lesmurdie.
Helicopter footage showed flames taking hold of trees in the park and burning close to homes, about 24 kilometres east of Perth's CBD.
Although the threat has eased, firefighters say the blaze is still uncontained and out of control.
The fire is moving through the park in a north-easterly direction.
Almost nine hectares of scrub land has been burnt.
About 100 firefighters are at the scene trying to control the blaze.
A watch and act alert is current for people in an area bounded by Yorna Road to the north, Orange Valley Road and Karralika Avenue to the east, Falls Road to the south and Ozone Terrace to the west in Lesmurdie and Kalamunda.
A bushfire advice alert has also been declared for areas west of the fire, including Forrestfield and Maida Vale.
It is not known at this stage how the fire began.
Topics: bushfire, fires, disasters-and-accidents, perth-6000, wa
First posted