South Australia: 2 Bushfires Burning Near Towns of Mallala and Lameroo

South Australia: 2 Bushfires Burning Near Towns of Mallala and Lameroo Letter of Invitation: I would be available to answer any queries regarding best suburbs to integrate socially, just to let you know 21 suburbs of South Australia which are red-flagged by Australian banks. I am happy to provide detail answers to any questions with reference to Property Investment, Subdivision, Development, Buying/ Selling Residential, Commercial, Rural Properties and Businesses. I am available in person (Tue/Thu at 1289 South Rd, St. Marys, SA 5042 12 to 5 p.m) or on cell to answer any questions, and concerns you have to decide about your Real Estate. (Cell: 0431 138 537, Email: Saqlain@Dukesrealestate.com) Officials say bushfire burning in Pinery, South Australia, has travelled 50 km (31 miles) within 4 hours, damage likely, no confirmation on fatalities - @SkyNewsAust Click here to invest in South Australian Residential Commercial, Rural Properties, Schools & Businesses. The Mallala fire is located to the north and moving southeasterly toward the town. The Lameroo fire is located to the north in the Murray Mallee with no specific direction reported. =================================================================================== A SERIES of community meetings are being held tonight and Monday to discuss the first steps towards recovery from the Pinery fire. Local Recovery Coordinator Vince Monterola, who has been appointed by the Premier to work with the community, will feature at all meetings. The meetings will be held at the following venues: MALLALA Mallala Institute, Dublin Road Mallala Thursday 3 December 2015 4pm - 5pm HAMLEY BRIDGE Recreation Centre, Hamley Bridge Football Oval, Stockport Road Thursday 3 December 2015 6pm - 7pm FREELING Freeling Recreation Park, Cherry St., Freeling Monday 7 December 2015 6pm - 7pm Tea and coffee provided. ========================================================================== BUSHFIRE EMERGENCY WARNING Fire Name: LAMEROO Message ID: 0000132 Time Message Issued: 14:03, 25/11/2015 EMERGENCY WARNING FOR A BUSHFIRE BURNING UNDER CATASTROPHIC WEATHER CONDITIONS CFS advises that an extremely dangerous bushfire is burning out of control at Coonalpyn Road near Airport Road Lameroo. This Bushfire Emergency Warning Message is in place for the following area(s) Trowbridge Road, Allenby Road, Drought Road and Lameroo South Road. The LAMEROO fire is travelling in a South Easterly direction and may impact Trowbridge Road, Allenby Road, Drought Road and Lameroo South Road within the next two hours. There is a risk to lives and property. People in these areas are in danger. Act immediately. Follow your Bushfire Survival Plan Do not leave or enter this area in a vehicle or on foot, it is too late and the roads will not be safe. Take shelter in a building and actively defend it. Shelter before the fire arrives as radiant heat can kill you well before the flames reach you. If the building catches fire and the conditions inside become unbearable, you need to get out and go to an area that has already been burnt. After the fire front has passed, check your immediate area and extinguish anything burning. In addition the following areas may be impacted by the fire Ngarkat National Park. People in these areas should check and follow their Bushfire Survival Plan. If you are not prepared or you plan to leave, leave now if the path is clear before conditions become too dangerous. Do not enter this area as the roads may not be safe. Homes that are situated and constructed or modified to withstand a bushfire, and that are prepared to the highest level and actively defended, may provide safety. Stay tuned on a battery-powered radio for updates. For information about bushfires, check the CFS website www.cfs.sa.gov.au or call the Bushfire Information Hotline on 1300 362 361. ======================== A FREELING resident has given a harrowing account of the chaotic moments he and his family were forced to evacuate the town under threat by the Pinery bushfire. The resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said after receiving an emergency text message at 2.20pm from the Country Fire Service telling him to evacuate, it only took 25 minutes for thick, black smoke to engulf the town. “In that time, from going up to the main street it was just a blanket of black smoke and a stream of cars going out of the town,” he recalled. It wasn’t long before the heat from the blaze could be felt within the township, and breathing became difficult due to the smoke. At one point, visibility was limited to just five to 10 metres. However, the seriousness of the situation didn’t hit home until leaving the town via the Daveyston Road, as other motorists scrambled to escape the approaching fire. “When the cars started overtaking in stupid spots and, really, you could see that they were trying to get out as quick as they could, I thought ‘maybe it is more serious than I initially thought’,” the resident said. “The cars were going up on the dirt on either side. “It was banked up, because the police on the Sturt Highway were directing traffic, so they were really just pushing towards that intersection. “So hitting that intersection there were three cars wide trying to turn left to get away.” It wasn’t until he and his family had reached safety in Williamstown that the resident had time to reflect on just how frightening the evacuation was. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced,” he said. Meanwhile, crashed vehicles that have been abandoned on roads around Freeling have been burnt out, while it is understood a number of farming homes have been lost to the blaze, along with a large number of sheds and stock. Property losses have been recorded at Wasleys, and it is understood that the bowling club and town hall have been hit by the fire. Motorists involved in the evacuation process at Hamley Bridge have described the scene as being like a “disaster film”. Emergency services officials have not yet reported any loss of life as a result of the fire. Grady Hudd @Grady_Hudd ========================== FIRE damage has significantly impacted Mallala’s drinking water supply, after a tank in Lower North region was burnt and its power cut this afternoon. The tank services residents living in Mallala, Dublin, Redbanks, Parham and Lower Light and is the main drinking water source servicing the region. SA Water has been in discussions with SA Health in relation to water quality. While customers may notice an odour and taste, the water is safe to drink. SA Water said they would be continually monitoring the situation, including water quality and supply. For more information people can call SA Water’s Customer Service Centre ( 1300 650 950 ). ========================== Raging bushfires threaten South Australia's Barossa Valley Ben Brennan and agencies November 25, 2015, 1:30 pm Video Homes destroyed as fires rage in South Australia South Australia's Barossa Valley wine region remains under threat as wild bushfires, fanned by gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour push firefighters to the limit. At least 11 people have been confirmed injured in the blazes which broke out near Pinery north of Adelaide this afternoon. More out of control bush fires ignited in the state's mid north, including near the Clare Valley wine region in the hours that followed. Interstate fire fighters are en route to assist. More than 340 firefighters, 63 fire fighting appliances and 17 aircraft are battling the flames. Scores of homes have been lost after fires tore through entire towns. There are reports of fire fighters suffering burns as well as injuries to people who stayed to defend their homes. Video Pinery fire jumps Balaklava Road There are reports of homes ablaze in some towns in the Barossa Valley. In other locations, entire streets are reported to have been lost. At Hamley Bridge, which was surrounded by the flames this afternoon, there have been reports of burnt out horse floats littering the streets. By late afternoon smoke was looming over the town of Mallala and warnings were being issued to residents throughout the Barossa Valley, including at Nuriootpa, Kapunda, and Tanunda. Wasleys was surrounded by fire. Not long afterwards, the inferno tore through the town. Warnings were also issued for Riverton, Marrabel, Eudunda and Dutton as well as Pinery, Owen, Hamley Bridge, Freeling, and Greenock. People in the towns of Wasleys, Roseworthy, Hewett and Gawler were also told to leave or defend their properties. Flames closed in on the towns as roads were closed. "Act immediately. Follow your Bushfire Survival Plan," the CFS said in a statement. Video Smoke from the Pinery Fire looms over Mallala in South Australia. "Do not leave or enter [the Pinery] area in a vehicle or on foot, it is too late and the roads will not be safe. "Take shelter in a building and actively defend it. Shelter before the fire arrives as radiant heat can kill you well before the flames reach you. "If the building catches on fire and the conditions inside become unbearable, you need to get out and go to an area that has already been burnt." Video Strong winds fan fires at Pinery in South Australia As fire fighters battled the wild blazes in the north, another out of control fire sprang up at Lameroo, to the south of Adelaide, in the state's Mallee region. There were also reports of grassfires breaking out in Adelaide at West Lakes and Noarlunga. The fire's forced the closure of the Northern Expressway to southbound traffic with motorists diverted onto Curtis Road. Video Dangerous fire burning north of Adelaide As temperatures up to 40 degrees brought the fire danger rating up to the catastrophic level, support was dispatched from interstate with the New South Wales' Rural Fire Service sending two large aircraft, the C130 Hercules known as Thor and the DC10 dubbed Southern Belle to aid in the fire fighting efforts. As the day wore on, reports of embers falling at Mannum on the River Murray, more than 70 kilometres from the worst fires, emerged. Earlier in the day the CFS advised that a fire at Buckingham was causing smoke to be visible in the Buckingham, Mundulla, Bordertown, Cannawigara, Wirrega and Lowan Vale Areas, and the Dukes Highway between Bordertown and Keith. An earlier blaze that broke out in SA's southeast near Bordertown was not considered a threat to people or property. The fires came as temperatures in SA's mid-north and southeast were forecast to reach the mid-30s and push into the low 40s in some regional centres. Extreme or severe bushfire danger warnings were in place for much of the state. News break – November 24 ============================ Parents outraged – Students in narrow fire escape (By Ellouise Crawford) A WASLEYS father, who lost his house in last week’s Pinery fire, has lashed out at the local school for allegedly allowing his young daughter to walk home alone while flames bared down on the township. Travis Toft said his daughter Lucy, 9, is lucky to be alive after she was plucked from the main street by evacuating residents just minutes before the fire front reached the town. The Toft’s home adjoins the Wasleys post office and was one of several buildings in the local area destroyed in the blaze. Mr Toft, a single dad, was in Gawler at the time of the fire, unable to return home because of roadblocks, and said he fears what could have happened if local residents Dawn and Lew Richter had not seen Lucy in the street and taken her with them to safety. “They saved my daughter’s life and if it wasn’t for them I don’t know what would have happened… she could have perished in the fires,” he said. “She’s still here and I’m grateful for that and I’m grateful to Dawn and Lew for saving her.” Lucy is not the only child alleged to have been released from Wasleys Primary School on Wednesday afternoon. Rebecca (surname withheld), said her 11-year-old daughter was found wandering alone, unable to see and breath clearly because of heavy smoke and ash in the air. “Teija was choking walking down the street, she couldn’t see anything, so it was bad and it (the fire) had to be in town already by the time they sent those kids out,” Rebecca said. Rebecca said Teija was found by a stranger and, thankfully, dropped home to relatives, just moments before the fire front swept through their street. “You just don’t allow kids out of a school without permission,” she said. “I’m just so shocked that they’ve done that.” Both Rebecca and Travis said they will not be sending their children back to Wasleys Primary School and are calling for a serious review of its protocols. “How can I send my daughter back to that school when I don’t trust them?” Mr Toft asked. “Words can’t describe how angry I am.” A statement from the education department said it is currently investigating the claims. “Student welfare is a top priority of the department,” a spokesperson said. “These are serious claims, and we are currently investigating. “We have been in contact with the parents and are offering our support to them.” State Education Minister Susan Close said she is concerned by the reports. “I am so relieved that all of our students are safe after the devastating bushfire,” she said. “I am concerned about these reports and will await the outcome of the department’s investigation.” --------------- Comments: Xavier College was really good... i was impressed, all of the kids were taken to the gym.... those living in threatened fire areas needed to find an alternative place to go by using theirs or schools phone which had to be verified by a teacher before they could leave. Kids walking toward Gawler had teachers walk with them across the bridge to the various collection points in the Willaston area to make sure they headed in the right direction and didn't put themselves at risk. Extremely happy with the process My children used to go to Wasleys and when the roseworthy fire was on we all got phone calls and had to sign our kids out or they couldn't leave so not sure what happened this time? thank god the kids are ok More to this story I believe. It is against DECD protocol to let any child out in this situation. ========================= HAMLEY Bridge CFS volunteers say the Pinery fire was the worst they have ever battled. One crew, whose truck caught on fire twice on Wednesday, once in a wheat paddock near Pinery and again in Barabba, could not believe the sheer ferocity and speed of the fire. Hamley Bridge CFS volunteer Steve West said his crew, like so many others, was probably lucky to be alive. “Because we had so much wheat underneath the truck, it just set it alight,” he said. “The sprinklers worked fantastic for about 30 seconds and then the pump seized. “Fortunately, the fire front was moving that fast, otherwise we might not be here today.” Mr West, who has been a CFS volunteer for eight years, said he had never seen anything like the Pinery fire. “There’s no comparison, none whatsoever,” he said. “I’ve talked to people that have been in the CFS for 30 years and they’ve never seen nothing like this. “I said to our group officer that this will probably go down in history, because it just burnt so much.” Mr West added there was no way the fire could be stopped on Wednesday when it began. “What we really needed was a break in the elements, but we just never got that,” he said. “We got that last year with the Sampson Flat fire, but we just never got that here.” ================================ BLAZEAID volunteers have been setting up camp at the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy campus today to help the local community recover from the Pinery fire. BlazeAid is a volunteer organisation that helps rural communities rebuild damaged or destroyed fences and structures after natural disasters. If your property was affected by fire and needs assistance, contact Roseworthy BlazeAid camp coordinater Wendy Cope (0467 999 909) who will organise to send a team out to help with your recovery. — at University of Adelaide, Roseworthy Campus -------------------------------------- A ROSEWORTHY man has felt the sickening blow of looters after fleeing his property in fear of his life. According to police, the man returned to his relatively unscathed home on Saturday to find his shed had been ransacked. The police report said the thieves removed sheets of iron from the shed and stole a firefighting pump, MIG welder, generator and other items on a property on Mackereth Road between November 26 and 27. According to Barossa local service area commander Chief Inspector Alex Zimmermann, there have been six instances of thefts and break-ins of premises that have been evacuated during fires. “In my view, it is the most reprehensible and low-life act,” he said. “We can assure people that we are putting extra police resources in and around those areas that still remain vulnerable in an endeavour to detect these people and certainly prevent any recurrence. “We have had suspicious vehicles advised to us and, wherever possible, we have tried to locate those; we welcome any reports of suspicious vehicles.” ====================== Love burns more fiercely than fire. One man has used hay bales salvaged from his scorched family farm - in the wake of last week's deadly bushfire north of Adelaide - to propose. Ben Kemp, 29, spelt out "Will you marry me" with more than 100 bales across his Roseworthy paddock before showing Jadine Mold, 28, during a helicopter ride on Tuesday. To keep her guessing, Mr Kemp explained it away as a fly-over to survey the extent of the fire's damage. "Originally she said `Omg no'. But that was more disbelief. This is not happening," he told AAP. ===================== "Then she said `Yes, yes. Of course I will'." The proposal was planned ahead of the fire, which claimed two lives, 82,000 hectares of mostly cropping land and close to 500 homes and other buildings. "It's a bit happiness in a dark time for the community," Mr Kemp said. The couple want to have their wedding reception in the same paddock. ========================= Fire investigations: fence probe General December 15, 2015 dec16_0206 A CUT fence near the ignition point of the Pinery fire is the centre of investigations currently being undertaken by a police task force. Officers from Task Force Pinery, established by the SA Police Major Crime Investigation Branch to investigate the cause of the November 25 fire, will be in Mallala tomorrow to gather information from the community about the fire. In particular, police are keen to identify who broke the fence line near the fire’s area of origin and the details of anyone who attended the area and assisted with fighting the blaze. In relation to the broken fence line, Detective Superintendent Des Bray said police believed that it was likely to be a farm firefighting unit. “We know the area of origin where the fire started and that it then spread along a fence line,” he said. “What we haven’t determined, as yet, is the ignition source, nor the exact point of ignition. “There is no evidence, at this stage, that the property owner – who was interstate when the fire began – has done anything negligent.” Superintendent Bray said while police were of the view there was nothing obviously suspicious about the ignition, they were keen to talk to anyone that was in the vicinity of the Plains Road-Port Lorne Road area at the time the fire broke out. “Anyone in the surrounding community with any information that may be of use to investigators is urged to visit Mallala tomorrow and talk to police,” he said. “Even a small piece of information may be of importance.” Investigators will be setting up a number of field command units at the Mallala Football Club on December 17 and will be available from 11am until 9pm to speak to anyone who may have information that could assist. “Police are leaving no stone unturned with regard to this significant investigation,” Superintendent Bray said. “Tragically, two people died in this fire, others have been seriously hurt and a large of number of homes have been lost.” Police have released a photograph showing the area of origin for the fire and are appealing for anyone with information about the blaze to come forward and speak with investigators. ================================================ A CUT fence near the ignition point of the Pinery fire is the centre of investigations currently being undertaken by a police task force. Officers from Task Force Pinery, established by the SA Police Major Crime Investigation Branch to investigate the cause of the November 25 fire, will be in Mallala tomorrow to gather information from the community about the fire. In particular, police are keen to identify who broke the fence line near the fire’s area of origin and the details of anyone who attended the area and assisted with fighting the blaze. In relation to the broken fence line, Detective Superintendent Des Bray said police believed that it was likely to be a farm firefighting unit. “We know the area of origin where the fire started and that it then spread along a fence line,” he said. “What we haven’t determined, as yet, is the ignition source, nor the exact point of ignition. “There is no evidence, at this stage, that the property owner – who was interstate when the fire began – has done anything negligent.” Superintendent Bray said while police were of the view there was nothing obviously suspicious about the ignition, they were keen to talk to anyone that was in the vicinity of the Plains Road-Port Lorne Road area at the time the fire broke out. “Anyone in the surrounding community with any information that may be of use to investigators is urged to visit Mallala tomorrow and talk to police,” he said. “Even a small piece of information may be of importance.” Investigators will be setting up a number of field command units at the Mallala Football Club on December 17 and will be available from 11am until 9pm to speak to anyone who may have information that could assist. “Police are leaving no stone unturned with regard to this significant investigation,” Superintendent Bray said. “Tragically, two people died in this fire, others have been seriously hurt and a large of number of homes have been lost.” Police have released a photograph showing the area of origin for the fire and are appealing for anyone with information about the blaze to come forward and speak with investigators. ================================================================================================= Menu Search Editions: United States Africa América Latina Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada 中国 España France Deutschland India Italy 日本 México РОССИЯ United Kingdom •United States Top News Business Legal Deals Aerospace & Defense Finance Autos Markets Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Funds Earnings World U.S Special Reports Reuters Investigates Euro Zone Middle East China Japan Mexico Brazil Africa Russia India Politics Election 2016 Polling Explorer What Voters Want Supreme Court Technology Science Environment Top 100 Innovators 2015 Money Retirement Life Health Sports Arts Entertainment Oddly Enough Pictures Photographers The Wider Image Video Top News Most Popular Business Editor's Choice First Images World Technology Entertainment Oddly Enough Breakingviews Politics Investigates Dateline Asia Environment Sat Dec 26, 2015 | 10:25 AM EST More than 100 homes lost in Australia's Christmas Day bushfires ‹ Smoke rises from a fast-moving bushfire near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, December 25, 2015. REUTERS/AAP Smoke rises from a fast-moving bushfire near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, December 25, 2015. Reuters/AAP A bushfire burns at Wye River near Lorne, south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. REUTERS/Keith Pakenham/AAP A bushfire burns at Wye River near Lorne, south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. Reuters/Keith Pakenham/AAP A woman tends to horses as children sleep on fold-out beds in the main street of Lorne during major bush fires south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. REUTERS/Julian Smith/AAP A woman tends to horses as children sleep on fold-out beds in the main street of Lorne during major bush fires south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. Reuters/Julian Smith/AAP Emergency crews are pictured as bushfires burn at Wye River near Lorne, south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. REUTERS/Keith Pakenham/AAP Emergency crews are pictured as bushfires burn at Wye River near Lorne, south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. Reuters/Keith Pakenham/AAP Smoke rises from a fast-moving bushfire near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, December 25, 2015. REUTERS/AAP Smoke rises from a fast-moving bushfire near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, December 25, 2015. Reuters/AAP A bushfire burns at Wye River near Lorne, south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. REUTERS/Keith Pakenham/AAP A bushfire burns at Wye River near Lorne, south of Melbourne, December 25, 2015. Reuters/Keith Pakenham/AAP › More than 100 homes lost in Australia's Christmas...X By Christopher McCall MELBOURNE (Reuters) - More than 100 homes burned down in a leading Australian tourist area in bushfires on Christmas Day and the situation remained dangerous on Saturday, as officials predicted more blazes to come later in the hot southern summer. While around 500 firefighters and 13 firefighting aircraft battled the flames along parts of Victoria state's picturesque Great Ocean Road, teams moved in to assess damage from fires that had lit up the night sky along the coast on Christmas. A spokesman for the state's emergency services said 98 homes had been confirmed burned in the community of Wye River and another 18 in nearby Separation Creek, for a total of 116 in the two townships, located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of Melbourne. Top emergency officials warned that dry conditions posed a threat of more fires for the Great Ocean Road area and the rest of Victoria. "This fire doesn't go away," Craig Lapsley, the state's emergency services commissioner, told a news conference. "We will be back into hot, windy weather in January without a doubt. Everything's available to burn." The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia's biggest tourist draws with its spectacular scenery and unusual offshore rock formations. It remained mostly closed to traffic on Saturday during what is typically one of its busiest times of the year. Although an evacuation alert was lifted for the popular tourist town of Lorne and rain overnight had helped the firefighting operation, officials said the situation remained potentially dangerous with many hotspots. Images from the scene showed hillsides charred to the ground all the way down to the coast. State Premier Daniel Andrews surveyed the area from the air and commended emergency services, noting that there had so far been no loss of life, but he warned that the number of homes destroyed could rise. Meetings were held on Saturday for hundreds of victims urgently moved out of affected towns on Friday, many spending Christmas night in hurriedly organized shelters. Andrews said financial grants had already been issued to help those who had lost their homes. The fires started with a lightning strike on Dec. 19 and, fanned by winds, have burned more than 2,000 hectares. Walking tracks in the nearby Great Otway National Park have been closed to the public as some of the fires are within the park itself. The disaster is the latest of a string of bushfires to hit Victoria and other states in recent weeks. In 2009, Victoria witnessed Australia's worst ever bushfire disaster, since dubbed "Black Saturday". (Reporting by Chris McCall; Editing by Edmund Klamann) =================================================================================