Wildfires tore through the suburbs of an Australian city today, destroying a number of homes.

There were no reports of injuries.

Two fires fanned by hot summer winds were burning in forested areas to the north and southeast of Perth in Western Australia state, said Fire and Emergency Services Authority spokesman Rick Tyers.

A fire at Roleystone to the southeast of the city flared suddenly today, and television news footage taken from a helicopter showed several houses ablaze.

Further north, in the Swan Valley district, 150 firefighters using six water-bombing helicopters and trucks were battling another wildfire.

About 100 people were told to evacuate their homes as authorities tried to contain the blaze, which started last night and had scorched about 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of forest land by today.

The fires in Australia's far west come as huge areas of the east coast recover from a huge cyclone that struck in Queensland state last week and from flooding from drenching rains in Queensland and in southern Victoria state.