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.