At least three houses have been destroyed by bushfires which escalated rapidly to emergency level in WA's Great Southern region.
A series of blazes in the region on Friday were ignited by lightning strikes, sparking simultaneous emergencies in the area.
One house has been destroyed in Jerramungup, south-east of Perth, while two were burned down in Hopetoun on the state's south coast.
Three other buildings have been destroyed but it is not clear whether they were sheds or homes.
Authorities said they had to deal with 68 fire incidents arising over just two hours on Friday, most of which were sparked by "an intense series of lightning strikes".
Many of those were in the Great Southern, with several escalating rapidly to emergency warning level.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said conditions in the region were extreme.
"The conditions in the Great Southern last night were incredibly severe — the winds were so strong that they actually tore [roofs] off homes near the fireground," DFES Commissioner Darren Klemm said.
"A sudden wind change also changed the direction of the bushfires and firefighters had to move extremely quickly to prevent the fires from reaching more homes.
"There has been some rainfall overnight that has helped firefighters get the situation under control and our immediate priority is to control and extinguish these bushfires."
Large estate saved from blaze
DFES deputy commissioner Craig Waters said the hard work and swift responses of the hundreds of firefighters who battled the blazes prevented significant property loss.
"There's some footage of where they've actually prevented [the blaze] from going into a large estate so there's probably hundreds of properties within that estate that would have been protected by keeping the fire on the other side of the fire break.
"And obviously, fire crews are still on the ground today mopping up and strengthening those containment lines to ensure there's no pop overs during today and during this evening."
Mr Waters said firefighters also received significant support from farmers who provided very good coverage in the early stages of the fires, not only on their own properties but others in the area.
Livestock losses extensive
He said while fires ignited by lightning strikes were not unusual, the situation that caused these blazes was less common.
"I think if you look at the lightning strike map on the Bureau of Meteorology website, it was significant," he said.
"What led to all of these fires popping up was the lightning belt ahead of no rainfall, so we had dry lightning, then we had to wait for the corresponding rainfall to come across, which came with the front.
"So we had the trough coming through with the lightning, followed by the front coming through with a bit of rain, and rainfall was recorded in a lot of the South West, unfortunately, some did miss out though."
Mr Waters said while he did not have exact figures, he expected up to 10,000 livestock would have to be euthanised.
"There was around 5,000 reported initially and I think they were estimating another 5,000 on top of that, that may need to be euthanised because of the level of injuries they sustained during the fire," he said.
Firefighters 'stretched to their limit'
Ravensthorpe shire president Keith Dunlop said it was fortunate the blaze did not go "straight through Hopetoun".
"They were all stretched to their limit because it could've come into Hopetoun quite easily, actually in the town. That would have been a disaster," he said.
"It was very hard to control."
Residents urged to stay alert
A bushfire watch and act warning remains in place for parts of Bremer Bay and Point Henry in the Shire of Jerramungup.
Conditions are changing and people are urged to stay alert as the blaze remains a possible threat to lives and homes.
The fire has also left that town's water treatment plant inoperable.
Authorities have raced to deliver water to the town due to supply running out.
The Water Corporation has asked the community to limit its water use.
The Hopetoun fire is down to advice level.
