South Australia fires - what you need to know
We’re winding up the live blog shortly, so here are the key developments from another day of bushfires in South Australia -
- There are 11 live fires in South Australia, with the most serious fire in the Sampson Flat area of the the Adelaide Hills region. More than 12,500 hectares have been burned through by the blaze.
- A total of 26 homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, with 90 families now getting state government support.
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29 people have been hospitalised, although there have been no deaths.
- More than 700 firefighters, aided by 10 water bombing aircraft, have battled the flames. Further support from New South Wales and Victoria will be arriving within the next 24 hours.
- South Australia police are investigating the cause of the fire, with an incinerator thought to be the likely source.
- Animal welfare workers fear that wildlife has suffered badly from the fires, with possums and koalas treated for burns. Livestock and pets, including cats and dogs, have perished.
- The Country Fire Service has said it is focusing on containing the perimeter and that the situation has improved since the weekend. But worsening weather, including 38C heat, is expected on Wednesday.
- Jay Weatherill, the South Australia premier, said: “We know we are in a dangerous phase when people are getting fatigued, people have a false sense of security because it appears the worst is over. We’ve got a bit of a way to go until we can relax.”
- Meanwhile in Western Australia, lives and homes are still under threat from a bushfire burning in the Perth Hills. A watch and act alert remains in place for people in Araluen Estate in Roleystone.
- It was a quieter day in Victoria following a series of worrying fires on the weekend, with no major emergency warnings on Monday.
Animal rescue teams are expecting few survivors from the Adelaide Hills fires, the ABC is reporting.
Vets and animal welfare workers are moving into the affected area are expecting to find plenty of devastation. Injured sheep are being put down, dogs and cats have already perished and horses are having phone numbers painted onto their backs and hooves so that they can be identified after the fires pass.
“Because of the intensity of the fire, it has caused a lot of destruction so most of the animals haven’t been able to survive,” said Bev Langley from the Minton Farm Animal Rescue Centre.
“We’ve had possums coming in with various injuries. Mostly singed feet, damaged tails, eye problems.”
26 homes destroyed/damaged in Adelaide Hills fire so far
South Australian premier Jay Weatherill has just given an update on the bushfire situation. He said that 26 homes have been either destroyed or badly damaged by the fires in the Adelaide Hills.
A total of 29 people have been hospitalised, including one person who had an asthma attack, Weatherill said. He adds that 90 families have been provided financial support.
“We know we are in a dangerous phase when people are getting fatigued, people have a false sense of security because it appears the worst is over,” he warns. “We’ve got a bit of a way to go until we can relax.”
The premier says he understands the “frustration” of people who have been barred from the area to check if their properties have burned down but stressed it is a safety issue.
Greg Nettleton, chief of the CFS, says there has been no major change to the shape of the fire and the priority is to contain its perimeter. He says there are now around 700 firefighters battling the flames, with more resources coming in from NSW and Victoria.
“Main aim is to get as much effort onto the ground as possible,” he said. “We need to get those resources in there and get people’s lives back to normal as quickly as possible.”
Gary Burns, South Australia’s police commissioner, says he has heard of reports of looting on social media but there have been no reports to police. He adds that the cause of the fire is being investigated. An incinerator seems to be the most likely culprit, Burns says.
A tale of a couple who managed to escape the flames near Adelaide, from AAP:
Michael and Jodie Koczwara’s home was gutted in a bushfire that ripped through the Adelaide Hills, but they’re well aware things could have been worse.
The couple, along with Michael’s father, planned to stay and defend their Inglewood property when the alarm was raised on Friday.
But the danger ahead quickly dawned on them when their better-equipped neighbours made a hasty retreat.
Packing the bare essentials and their two dogs, they went to stay with Michael’s grandmother.
Hours later, the house lay in ruins, a shed had exploded and their paddocks were burnt black.
Speaking at a bushfire relief centre in Golden Grove on Monday, the couple told AAP they were lucky to be alive.
“You start contemplating everything,” Michael says.
“If we have a house at the end of the day but I don’t have a wife or I don’t have a dad, what’s the point?”
Jodie said the couple were initially confident their well-maintained home would escape damage.
“But seeing what happened to the house, we know now that we would never have been able to take any cover anywhere,” she said.
“We didn’t have the skills either, to be honest. We’ve never fought fire.”
Michael, a building surveyor, and Jodie, an admin assistant, both 29, said they didn’t really believe they’d lost their home until they heard from police and saw the damage themselves.
Neighbours knew what had happened but couldn’t bring themselves to deliver the bad news.
Like others who have lost their homes in the devastating blaze, Michael and Jodie plan to rebuild and start over again.
The couple are heartened by news that their sheep appear to have survived unscathed and hopeful of tracking down their two missing alpacas.
Much of what they lost will be replaceable but some items - like Jodie’s wedding dress and Michael’s university degree - are more painful to lose.
Aerial water-bombing & retardant campaign north of One Tree Hill - near Yattalunga #SAfires #SampsonFlat @abcnews pic.twitter.com/gmTr8Rbz52
— Melissa Clarke (@Clarke_Melissa) January 5, 2015
The ABC’s Nick Dole is on the scene in South Australia has just been on air to explain the fire fight:
The main focus is to strengthen the containment lines that firefighters have been working on for the last few days because as you mentioned there is going to be a change in weather conditions on Wednesday. All efforts are being put into building and strengthening those containment lines. A number of aircraft have been brought in from interstate, from Victoria and New South Wales.
Dole says there has been a “lot of frustration” from local residents who haven’t been able to see what has become of their properties because they’ve been stopped at roadblocks. He adds that conditions could worsen on Wednesday.
One of the key concerns for Wednesday is the shifting wind from the north, which potentially could push the fire further into areas to the south of where it’s currently burning. And the other big problem is that storms are forecast on Wednesday.
Now that’s kind of a double edged sword, because it might bring some rain hand that would certainly be welcome for firefighters. But if we get any dry lightning that could potentially cause more flare-ups of this blaze in what is already a dangerous situation.
Marsupials on the mend and road signs getting blurry. Some tell tale signs of a bushfire.
AMWRRO opens South Australian clinic to bush fire victims. Please donate: http://t.co/L2JqlbQ3WM #koala #SAFires pic.twitter.com/gDZCFciLKa
— ASRProjects&Research (@seabirdrescue) January 5, 2015
Scorched road sign in #AdelaideHills from #SampsonFlat bushfire. @9NewsAdel #9Newscomau #SAFires pic.twitter.com/tlUdhiSc37
— Edward Godfrey (@EdwardGodfrey9) January 5, 2015
The concept of climate change fuelling bushfire risk is fairly simple to grasp - warmer temperatures mean elongated fire seasons, creating more dry, burnable vegetation when fires do ignite.
With that in mind, let’s look at how the Bureau of Meteorology has charted rainfall in temperature over the past three months (of course, climate change trends are taken over a longer timeframe).
As you can see, the area around Adelaide, as well as parts of Victoria, have had very little rain (record lows in some cases).
How about temperature? The past three months have been on the high side around Adelaide and much of Victoria, up to 2C above the long-term trend (which is calculated to be between 1961 and 1990).
Updated
Lives and homes in danger from WA bushfire
From AAP:
Lives and homes are still under threat from a bushfire burning in the Perth Hills.
A watch and act alert remains in place for people in Araluen Estate in Roleystone.
“There is a possible threat to lives and homes as a fire is burning in the area and conditions are changing,” the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said.
“You need to leave or get ready to actively defend.”
The fire, which started on Sunday afternoon, is burning in inaccessible bushland along Canning Dam Road near McNess Drive and has been burning towards Heritage Drive.
Although the bushfire is stationary, easterly wind speeds have increased and firefighters are managing flare-ups, DFES says.
It means homes west of the fire on Heritage Drive, Protector Grove and Sophia Grove may be threatened.
DFES says the flames are under control but not yet contained, and burning embers are likely to be blown around homes.
The bushfire has burnt through about four hectares.
The cause of the blaze is unknown.
Bushfires blaze through the Adelaide Hills - in pictures
A round up of some of the most striking pictures of the fires and their aftermath can be found here.
Earlier, South Australian premier Jay Weatherill said there is “not much” that could be done to mitigate bushfires. But as my colleague Daniel Hurst reported last night, the federal government is looking to prevention as well as treatment when it comes to natural disasters -
The federal government has signalled it wants to reduce spending on natural disaster recovery and shift its focus to reducing the risks before an event strikes.
The Greens renewed their calls for the government to take strong action against climate change while fire crews worked to contain blazes in South Australia and Victoria on Sunday.
The justice minister, Michael Keenan, did not directly respond to the climate change criticism, but said the government would speak to state and territory leaders about shifting spending from post-disaster support to upfront mitigation activities.
Keenan and his South Australian counterpart, Zoe Bettison, announced emergency grants of up to $280 per adult and $140 per child, up to a maximum of $700 per family, would be available to people affected by the Sampson Flat bushfire for essential items such as food and clothing.
The Greens, like they have done in the last couple of summers, have been on the front foot in calling for greater focus on climate change, which is, scientists say, increasing the frequency and severity of bushfires.
“Every year we are going to face these extreme weather events, which are going to cost lives and infrastructure, and enough is enough,” said Greens leader Christine Milne.
“Look at what is happening to people, communities, our environment, loss of infrastructure and for goodness sake abandon your nonsense about climate variability.
“Accept global warming is real and let’s get on with working together to plan for resilience in the face of extreme weather events.”
Situation in Perth
While our focus has been mainly on South Australia and Victoria, we are also keeping an eye on what is happening in Western Australia. My Perth-based colleague Calla Wahlquist reports:
Residents in the Perth hills are on alert for a possible flare up of a fire at Roleystone, which began late Sunday afternoon.
The fire is burning in inaccessible bushland near Canning Dam Road and McNess Road in the Araluen Estate. It’s under control, but firefighters are concerned the hot weather on Monday - it’s expected to reach 41 - and strong easterly winds have caused it to flare up. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said there’s a possible threat to homes.
Roleystone was one of the areas hardest hit in the 2011 Perth Hills bushfire, which destroyed 72 homes.
Thankfully, there have been no lives lost in the current South Australia and Victoria bushfires. But a number of animals have suffered badly.
As my colleague Bridie Jabour noted here on the weekend, more than 40 dogs and cats perished when fire tore through the Tea Tree Gully boarding kennel and cattery in the Adelaide Hills on Saturday morning, the Adelaide Advertiser reported. Firefighters managed to save about 45 animals from the building.
Meanwhile, wildlife sanctuaries are at risk from the flames, such as the Humbug Scrub Wildlife Sanctuary in the Adelaide Hills.
"This is a remarkable woman. Lost her home but was overjoyed at finding her 40 orphaned roos alive pic.twitter.com/6jmQwNMoMT” Dear friend .. X
— Mandi Whitten (@MandiWhitten) January 3, 2015
A fundraising page has been set up here.
More generally, the University of Adelaide Veterinary School at Roseworth is open to treat injured animals. You can call them on 08 8313 1999 or email vet_reception@adelaide.edu.au.
Meanwhile, the Animal Welfare League of Australia are taking calls on 08 8348 1300 and Pets and their People vet surgeries are offering free consultations for pets (excluding horses) that have been injured in the fire.
Updated
No total fire ban in Victoria today.
Updated
Important websites and phone numbers
If you’re in South Australia, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Country Fire Service’s regularly-updated page of fire warnings to see if there any in your area.
The CFS’ emergency hotline is 1300 362 361. If your home has been lost or damaged, or if you have suffered trauma, the bushfire recovery hotline is 1800 302 787.
If you want to volunteer to help the families displaced by the bushfires, you can do so here.
In Victoria, the page of latest warnings can be found here.
The Country Fire Authority’s bushfire information line in Victoria is 1800 240 667.
It looks set to be a difficult bushfire week for South Australia, judging by the predicted weather conditions.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast an Adelaide temperature of 38C on Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping to 33C on Thursday. Combined with strong winds, the bushfire risk is set to strengthen, if anything, in the coming days.
Jay Weatherill, South Australia’s premier, took a helicopter tour of the affected area yesterday and said that around 1,100 properties lie are within the fire ground.
“This is obviously a worrying time for residents,” Weatherill said earlier today. “This is by no means over, we are really racing against time to get as much of this contained before we get the hotter weather and stronger winds.”
Weatherill then praised the firefighters attacking the blazes from land and air before, rather unfashionably these days, taking a glance at the bigger picture.
“Unless you want to talk about clearing the Adelaide Hills, there’s not much we can do to mitigate bush fires,” he said. “We are going to be experiencing more bush fires of greater severity.”
This is, of course, a reference to climate change. Or climate variability, as it now regularly referred to in officialspeak.
To give you an idea of the location of the fires near Adelaide...
Satellite hotspot view of bushfires near Adelaide (icon size not related to fire boundary) http://t.co/SBJXrspxXT pic.twitter.com/PxKF0qwikA
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) January 4, 2015
The above map shows a satellite view of the fires near Adelaide from the MyFireWatch website. Each icon is a hotspot detected by satellite, coloured by age. It’s important to note that the size of the icon is static, which can make fires appear larger at greater zoom levels.
To give a better idea of the sheer area being eaten up by these fires, here’s the fire zone at Sampson Flat overlaid upon a map of Adelaide, to show scale.
This photo blew my mind. How the Sampson Flat fire would look if it happened in metropolitan Adelaide. pic.twitter.com/19pGgeEaGi
— Angela Malusa (@angemalusa) January 4, 2015
The Sampson Flat fire - affecting One Tree Hill, Humbug Scrub, Parra Wirra Recreation Park, Mount Crawford, Kersbrook, Birdwood, Gumeracha, Kenton Valley, Cudlee Creek area and Inglewood - is one the Country Fire Service is particularly concerned about this morning.
CFS advises #bushfire at #Sampson_Flat in Mount Lofty Ranges may threaten your safety. #WAM http://t.co/2qJ0dXzwvq
— Country Fire Service (@CFSAlerts) January 4, 2015
Updated
Welcome to the Guardian live blog as hundreds of firefighters continue their battle against bushfires in South Australia and Victoria on Monday.
There are nine main bushfires currently raging in South Australia, according to the state’s Country Fire Service, with firefighters attempting to control flames threatening homes in the Adelaide Hills.
So far, 12 homes have been lost to fire in South Australia, although that number may rise further as the damage is assessed. More than 12,000 hectares have been burned through, with 1,000 homes losing power in what has been described by the CFS as the worst fires since the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983, which killed 28 people.
The situation appears to be slightly less serious in Victoria, with a welcome drop in temperature on Saturday night, following a day when it reached 40C, helping the situation.
There are no emergency warnings in Victoria at present, although there are two fires close to the town of Horsham, in the state’s west. Fires near the town of Moyston, also in the west of the state, have been brought under control, while residents had to flee Hastings, south east of Melbourne, before a blaze was tamed by firefighters.
Updated
