Update: Fire at City of Melville Civic Centre Offices

Emergency services attended promptly and contained the fire to one floor.

No staff were in the building at the time. There have been no reported injuries to staff or emergency service personnel.

Fire damage has been sustained to one floor of the building and water damage has affected two floors - where the fire occurred and the level below.

The power has been cut to the site and smoke has circulated the building via the air-conditioning system.

Fire personnel have identified an electrical fault in the wall air-conditioning unit as the cause of the fire. An investigation is expected to confirm this.

Chief Executive Officer Dr Shayne Silcox said it was too early to estimate the cost of the damage.

"It's upsetting the building has sustained extensive damage, but most importantly I'm grateful all staff are safe and no one was hurt this morning," he said.

"With no power and smoke circulating in the building, all Civic Centre staff have been advised to return home. An assessment of air quality will determine when staff can re-enter the building.

"We expect most staff will be able to return to work as normal tomorrow, and those with work-stations affected by the fire will be relocated to alternative stations.

"Once we have the all clear from emergency services, we will begin to clean the area up and rebuild the workstations damaged in the fire.  Our initial forecast is that refurbishment will take at least two weeks."

City of Melville sites including recreation centres and the Operations Centre are still operational. While Civic Square Library will be closed during the day to take incoming customer service calls for the organisation, the library will later be open from 5.00pm to 8.00pm. All other libraries remain open as per normal operating hours. Please note: Bull Creek, Canning Bridge and Willagee libraries are closed on Wednesdays.

"We're asking all residents to help by avoiding contact or visiting the Civic Centre office today, especially relating to the fire, to ease pressure on our already strained resources. Information will continue to be available on our website."