A DEPARTMENT of Fire and Emergency Services spokesman told AAP that firefighters had brought the blaze under control but would remain at the Myaree site for about an hour to clean up the mess.

Police were also on their way to investigate, he said. A woman who works at a nearby business on Blaikie Street told AAP that black smoke had spread throughout the street but soon abated after fire crews arrived. She said a pathology business, Western Diagnostic Pathology, was evacuated as a 10-metre-tall tree caught fire and there was the sound of "popping explosions". Christine Whittaker, who works at WA Appliance Parts near the car park at Western Diagnostics, said she could smell burning rubber and saw black smoke billowing in the area. "It was a bit scary," she told AAP. "I thought, if that wind changes around we're out of here."