With barely a week to go until winter, South Australian fire authorities are warning of very high fire danger across parts of the state on Monday.
South Australia is currently in the grip of a late May burst of warm weather, with dry northerly winds and almost no rainfall.
Temperatures are forecast to rise into the mid-20s across large swathes of the state on Monday, and the high-20s in the north.
The Country Fire Service (CFS) said while it was rare to issue such a warning so close to winter, "very high fire danger weather" was expected.
The CFS said a grassfire at Mylor in the Adelaide Hills, which burned about 4 hectares before it was contained by about 35 firefighters on Sunday afternoon, highlighted the risk.
Investigations into the incident are continuing, but CFS state duty commander Brett Loughlin said it is believed to have been the result of a burn-off that got out of control.
"The fire did get close to several homes — none were directly threatened, but it did get close to homes in the area, and that really was a bit of a wake-up call," Mr Loughlin said.
The CFS has urged landowners to think twice before embarking on any burning off on Monday because "dry fuels and wind will be enough to see a fire quickly catch and take off".
"If you're planning to conduct a burn-off on Monday, assess your local situation and, if possible, wait [until] the wind calms down," Mr Loughlin said.
The Bureau of Meteorology has described autumn as a continuation of a dry start to the year.
"Districts in the east and the central parts of South Australia [have had] rainfall deficits of around 50 to 100 millimetres for the year to date," duty meteorologist Tina Donaldson said.
"Places like Renmark — their last recorded rainfall was back on March 26.
"It's definitely been warmer than average here in Adelaide."
A cold front is expected to move across the state later tomorrow, reaching Adelaide on Tuesday.
