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ABC News
ABC News
National

South Australia Police investigate eight deliberately lit fires north of Adelaide

Chief Inspector Lauren Leverington says police want to speak with the driver of a dual cab ute spotted in the area.  (ABC News: Candice Prosser)

South Australia Police are investigating a series of fires they believe were deliberately lit on the Adelaide Plains in extreme conditions yesterday. 

Emergency services responded to eight grass fires at a number of locations including Two Wells, Dublin, Lower Light, Korunye and Reeves Plains between 2pm and 7pm yesterday. 

Country Fire Service crews were able to quickly bring all of the fires under control with minimal damage caused. 

Officer in Charge of Barossa Local Service Area Chief Inspector Lauren Leverington said police were trying to track down a vehicle they believed could be connected to the fires. 

"Police are specifically looking for a vehicle, we don't have a registration but it's a white dual cab ute with a distinctive black tray and black rims," she said. 

"We ask anyone who was in the vicinity of the Reeves Plains fires yesterday afternoon who might have dashcam footage of that vehicle or CCTV to contact police.

"In terms of whether or not it's been lit by the same person, that remains to be seen as part of our investigation and that's really why we are asking the public to provide us with as much information as they can." 

One of the fires was lit on Port Gawler Road at Two Wells, near a vineyard and greenhouses.  (ABC News: Candice Prosser)

Chief Inspector Leverington said the potential risk to local communities was significant given the hot and blustery conditions. 

"Those conditions yesterday and what the CFS were facing were really intense and we were very lucky," she said. 

Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators attended the ignition sites and patrols remained in the area overnight. 

Police believe a series of fires were deliberately lit at different locations while crews battled a fire at Kangaroo Flat yesterday. 

CFS crews also contained a stubble and hay bale fire at Kangaroo Flat yesterday after it broke out near Redbanks Road, not far from the Northern Expressway.

An emergency warning was issued for the fire earlier in the day but crews managed to bring it under control with six aircraft and 21 crews brought in to battle the blaze. 

The CFS said recently irrigated farmland slowed down the fire front and farm fire fighting units helped its containment. 

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