Two emergency warnings are in place for lightning-sparked bushfires in Western Australia's south, with a veteran firefighter warning one of the blazes could burn all the way to the coast.
While a fire threatens the town of Northcliffe, the alert level for the southern part of Lower Hotham has been upgraded to an emergency.
Roger Underwood, who has been fighting fires for more than 50 years, fears the Northcliffe blaze could continue to burn out of control until it hits the Southern Ocean.
Mr Underwood said the fire was burning in extremely dense Karri forest, thick with trees up to 70 metres high.
"It could be really bad," he told AAP.
"It's probably the biggest fire risk problem we've had in 50 years."
The fire is spreading in some areas at a rate of more than 500 metres per hour, with spot fires starting up to 100 metres ahead of the fire.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services says forecast thunderstorms "could cause areas of extreme fire behaviour".
Wednesday is expected to be very hot with possibly more storms.
About 300 firefighters and support crews are on the scene and have saved several homes in the area, and will soon be joined by almost 150 firefighters from Victoria who arrived in Perth on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Underwood said there was no way to stop the head fire.
"That's unstoppable," he said.
"Fires in the Karri forest are not put out by men on the ground or by aeroplanes - they're only put out by a change in the weather.
"You've got to work the sides of the fire and bring in bulldozers."
People in Northcliffe and the subdivisions of Parkview, Bracken Rise and Double Bridge are directly in the fire's path and have been strongly urged to evacuate as the areas are considered undefendable.
Only a few people have remained behind.
The Lower Hotham fire has increased in intensity and hop-overs have occurred on the eastern and western sides.
The warning applies to an area bounded by Pinjarra Williams Road, Lower Hotham Road, Tunnell Road, Fletcher Road, Stockyard Road, Boundary Road, Trees Road, Harvey Quindanning Road, Dooganally Road, Lemercier Road and George Road.
"Homes on the eastern side of Lower Hotham Road will be impacted by bushfire," DFES said.
About 70 firefighters are on the scene.
Almost 3000 bushfires have broken out around WA since January 1, with more than 120 sparked by lightning in the past week.
Mr Underwood, the chairman of prescribed burning advocacy group Bushfire Front, said the state had entered an era of very poor bushfire management after leading the world in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Unless you have control of the fuels, in an Australian environment you're doomed to savage bushfires."
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