The last of 10 inmates who staged a mass breakout from Greenough Prison during a riot on Tuesday has been recaptured at a house on Geraldton's outskirts, as the first pictures emerged of damage inside.

Bradley Silvester, 35, was arrested on Thursday morning after police descended on a house in the suburb of Glenfield.

Homeowner Robert Andrews said he woke up and was surprised to see police officers and vehicles outside his house.

Bradley Silvester was arrested on Thursday morning after the mass breakout. ( Supplied: WA Police )

"I jumped up and looked out the window and saw all these cars and the police cars, so I grabbed the keys and came down and open the gate in case they wanted to go in," he said.

He said he thought the escapee may have been sleeping in a caravan in his backyard.

"I never had the caravan locked. He might have slept in that. He might have camped in there," Mr Adams said.

After his arrest, Silvester told police he had been drinking out of puddles and had not eaten for three days following the breakout.

Sorry, this video has expired Police arrest final escapee

Silvester was one of 10 inmates who used power tools and ladders to escape during a riot at the facility on Tuesday, which left the prison looking like a "war zone" according to WA Premier Mark McGowan.

Seven of the other escapees were also captured, while two more handed themselves in to police in Geraldton, about 400 kilometres north of Perth.

Silvester had previously knocked on the door of a house in Waggrakine, in Geraldton's north, at about 7:00pm yesterday and told the occupant he had rolled his car and needed a lift.

Unaware Silvester was a wanted prison escapee, the man gave him a long-sleeved fluoro yellow shirt to replace his prison greens before driving him to a roadhouse on the Northwest Coastal Highway, 13 kilometres north of Geraldton.

Riot renders prison units uninhabitable

Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall told ABC Radio Perth the riot had left the prison badly damaged with large sections left uninhabitable, and a number of prisoners would need to be relocated to other prisons in WA.

Pictures released by police show some of the damage from fires lit by prisoners. ( Supplied: WA Police )

Mr Hassell said several would be taken to the maximum-security Hakea Prison in Perth, including the 10 recaptured escapees who are set to be transferred under armed guard.

There were unconfirmed estimates that the damage to Greenough Prison was in excess of $2 million.

Prisoners ripped open cell doors and trashed common areas during the riot. ( Supplied: WA Police )

Mr Hassall said he was "very angry" with those who took part in the riot, particularly the inmates he said had attacked staff.

"On the day, staff who were very brave and went to rescue prisoners came under significant attack," Mr Hassall said.

Mr Hassall said the riot started when about 15 ringleaders lit a fire in a cell and staff were forced to respond.

A pile of burnt debris was left outside the main entrance to the prison after inmates lit a fire. ( Supplied: WA Police )

That number quickly grew to 80 prisoners before they gained access to the roof and broke into non-prisoner areas of the jail.

Prisoners then began to run amok, ripping doors from cells in the female unit and starting fires in staff control units.

Escapees to 'have the book thrown at them'

Mr McGowan conceded there were prison overcrowding issues, but said there was no excuse for the kind of outrageous behaviour that took place at Greenough.

Non-prisoner areas of the facility were badly damaged during the riot. ( Supplied: WA Police )

"This behaviour was a riot brought about by irresponsible people who will now have the book thrown at them, and so they should," he said.

"Bad things happen because you have got people in there who don't act rationally or responsibly and … incredibly stupidly."

Mr McGowan said the advice he had received from prison authorities was that the environment at Greenough was stable in the lead up to the escape.

"Obviously something happened or some of the prisoners created this situation to provide the opportunity for them to escape, but it wasn't picked up by the intelligence monitoring before it occurred," he said.

Authorities deny overcrowding caused riot

Reports by Inspector of Custodial Services Neil Morgan in 2016 and 2017 found the prison was overcrowded, with most prisoners sharing cells, and that relations between staff and inmates had fallen to such a low level, they were posing a security risk.

But Mr Hassall denied overcrowding was the cause of the riot.

"The prison system does have its challenges in terms of the prison population, but on the day of the incident there were 284 prisoners and beds for 346," he said.

"There was plenty of capacity in the prison and there was no excuse whatsoever for the behaviour of the prisoners on the day.

"We will work with the police to prosecute those prisoners to bring the full extent of the law down on them."

Mr Hassall said 39 prison officers had been rostered on at the jail on the day of the riot, with three on leave.

Authorities say a number of prisoners will need to be relocated from Greenough to other WA jails. ( Supplied: WA Police )

Extra resources had since been brought it to boost staff numbers.

"We've got armed response capability up here and they will stay here supporting the local staff, giving confidence to the public that this prison is safe and secure," he said.

"What we've got to do now is systematically go through the prison, make sure prisoners are searched, remove all the debris and stuff that can be a danger to the staff."

Prisoner recapture 'a tremendous result'

WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said he was pleased to be told the incident had ended without any injuries to members of the public.

The damage bill from the riot is expected to run into the millions of dollars. ( ABC Mid West: Chris Lewis )

"In rounding this up, it's most important that the public was kept safe … there have been no reported serious crimes that have been reported to police … I think that's a tremendous result," he said.

About 160 police officers in total were involved in the operation to recapture the prisoners.

Mr Dawson would not comment on the performance of Department of Corrective Services staff, but said investigations into the incident were likely to take months.

"There's quite a great deal of people to be interviewed and quite a number of investigative phases that will take place," he said.

Liberals call on Fran Logan to resign

The Opposition has called on Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan to stand down in the wake of the riot and breakout.

Premier Mark McGowan is standing by Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan despite calls for him to go. ( ABC News: Jacob Kagi )

"We've got a litany of failures of this minister, and there's no doubt he absolutely deserves to go," Liberal MP Zak Kirkup said.

But the Premier accused the Opposition of double standards.

"They had problems with Corrective Services when they were in government. They had significant issues … and I didn't attack them," he said.

Mr Logan is returning early from leave to address the crisis on Friday and is expected to front the media then.