Saturday, January 3, 2015

THOUSANDS FLEE HOMES AND BUSINESSES AS BUSHFIRES SWEEP SOUTH AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA



Thousands flee homes AND BUSINESSES as bushfires sweep South Australia, Victoria








3 Jan 2015 - 8:50pm

South Australia and Victoria are facing extreme bushfire conditions, with homes already lost in both states.

Dozens of homes are likely to have been destroyed and six firefighters injured as South Australia's worst bushfire since the 1983 Ash Wednesday blaze continues to threaten lives.
The out-of-control Sampson Flat fire in the Mount Lofty Ranges is threatening 19 communities after travelling erratically and burning freely in all directions for most of Saturday.

Thousands of residents have fled their homes to relief centres and staging posts in the Adelaide Hills since the emergency warning was first raised on Friday afternoon.
Residents - many with personal items and pets in hand - have been advised not to return home for several days because the fire within 30km of central Adelaide is not expected to be contained until early next week.
Ian Tanner from the Country Fire Service told one group of locals: "there is not a fire service anywhere in the world that could put this fire out at the moment."
With temperatures above 40C and winds over 90km/h, the CFS said the area "is being confronted by a fire that hasn't been since 1983" when the Ash Wednesday fires claimed 28 lives in South Australia.
CFS chief officer Greg Nettleton said the Sampson Flat fire had burned through about 10,000 hectares of scrub affecting townships including Kersbrook and Mount Crawford to the east and Birdwood to the south.

Lives are at risk in communities in a large swathe of land south of Sampson Flat, stretching from Upper Hermitage, Inglewood and Houghton to Lobethal and Charleston.
At least five homes and several sheds have been confirmed lost but the CFS has said there may be dozens of homes destroyed.
"I think there are more losses than that from what I've been able to get from my people, but they're not at the stage where we can put an exact number on it," Mr Nettleton said.
Mr Nettleton confirmed six CFS volunteers had been injured while fighting the blaze, most of them suffering smoke inhalation.
Thousands of firefighters are battling the blaze in hot and very windy weather.
"They're doing their absolute best in what are the worst of conditions imaginable for firefighting," CFS spokesman Rob Sandford said.
Premier Jay Weatherill said the fire was likely to move northeast but all of its edges remained active and there were unpredictable wind gusts.
"There should be no sense of relief because the temperatures are somewhat lower and there are spots of rain about," Mr Weatherill said.
"The situation remains extremely dangerous."
The threat of bushfires is a fact of life for residents of the Adelaide Hills but Kersbrook resident Graeme Zucker says he's never seen such extreme conditions in the six years he's lived in the area.
Mr Zucker fled his Kersbrook home on Saturday, taking photos, a laptop and a bag of fruit after his wife Liz had already left with the three family dogs.
They now face a long and anxious wait to learn whether their house has survived.
"You might be lucky, you might not be," Mr Zucker told AAP.
"We won't know until the roads are opened and we can drive back and come around the corner."
Mr Nettleton said the blaze may not be contained until early next week, with extreme weather making it difficult to contain.

The CFS is focusing efforts on ensuring the fire is under control before Wednesday, when more hot and windy weather is forecast.
"There's every probability that it may get out again," he said.
"But we're not expecting the same ferocity of conditions we experienced yesterday or today. It's probably only one day, rather than two."
SA Police Commissioner Gary Burns said police were investigating a number of potential causes, including the possibility it may have been sparked by a faulty backyard incinerator.