A bushfire that has ripped through more than 600 hectares and destroyed at least two family homes is believed to have been started by an “accidental ignition” from a vehicle, the Country Fire Service (CFS) says.
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the Tooperang fire, which is burning near Mount Compass and remains uncontrolled.
The fire broke out about 4:30pm on Sunday and has so far blackened about 650 hectares of grass, scrub and plantation, the CFS said.
A property surrounded by burnt ground from the Tooperang bushfire. (Supplied: Country Fire Service)
The CFS has downgraded the watch and act to an advice message for an area including Tooperang, Nangkita, Mount Jagged and Mosquito Hill, advising residents to monitor local conditions and stay informed.
Water bombers have been battling the fire, which the CFS said had impacted an area between Nangkita Road and Cleland Gully Road, “including structures and farm sheds”.
An aerial view of the Tooperang bushfire.
CFS deputy state controller Brenton Hastie confirmed at least three structures had been lost, including sheds and “possibly a house”.
“I have no doubt in addition to the three structures we’re able to confirm, that smaller assets — whether that be motorhome or smaller sheds — that toll would unfortunately rise,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“Crews were faced with 10 ignitions across a stretch of road yesterday.”
The property losses include the motorhome of Natasha Price and the home of Isaac Selfe.
CFS said vineyards, farmland and vegetation were also impacted and there were likely to be livestock losses.
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the Tooperang fire burning since Sunday. (Facebook: Willunga Country Fire Service)
Mr Hastie said the weather conditions today were “more favourable” than they were on Sunday.
He also said there was a “high level of confidence” that the fire was caused by an “accidental ignition” from a vehicle.
“A vehicle travelling the road — whether that’s [a] mechanical issue or something else. But we don’t believe this was arson as we initially feared this fire started,” Mr Hastie said.
The fire has burned through more than 600 hectares. (Facebook: Willunga Country Fire Service)
CFS said crews were back-burning to strengthen the containment lines and slow the spread to dense scrub.
They said residents could expect to see smoke and visible fire activity today and tomorrow, warning people not to enter the area.
ABC reporter Caroline Horn was in the area early this morning and said she could see burnt-out paddocks that were “still smouldering”, as well as other damage.
“Unfortunately there is a structure that you can see that’s been destroyed. I don’t know whether it’s a shed or a house,” she told ABC Radio Adelaide.
Dozens of firefighters and trucks have been involved in the CFS response. (ABC News: Caroline Horn)
The CFS said more than 200 firefighters supported by more than 60 trucks and other agencies including the Metropolitan Fire Service had worked into the night to reduce the fire’s spread.
A fire reconnaissance aircraft equipped with an infrared camera for detecting hot spots flew over the fire ground earlier this morning.
The CFS said it showed about 650 hectares had so far been burnt — up from an earlier figure of 450.
The extent of the damage is still becoming known. (Supplied: Courtney Christie)
Road closures are in place in the area.
Local state MP David Basham, who used to have a dairy farm in the area, said he was helping a local property owner move “a fair number of cattle out of the way” well into the night.
“It certainly was a challenging situation,” he said.
“We were sort of just trying to defend and waiting for it to come out of the scrub and trying to put it out before it ran across the grassland, which would have been linked to another lot of scrub, so it was a fantastic job by those 20 local farmers up there.”
The Tooperang fire near Mount Compass broke out on Sunday and burned through the night. (Supplied: Courtney Christie)
Alpaca farmer Chris Williams said he had swiftly put his bushfire action plan into effect.
“One of the biggest problems this year is there’s just so much tall grass around,” he said.
“I rang a couple of neighbours just to make sure they were aware of everything, because the problem on a hot day is you can be sitting inside your house with your curtains drawn and air conditioner on and you’re totally oblivious to what’s happening outside.”
The CFS said firefighters were working in difficult terrain including plantations. (ABC News: Caroline Horn)
Earlier today, CFS state duty officer Ben Pettman said crews were working to stop the spread to Mount Magnificent and Cox Scrub conservation parks.
“Thankfully at this stage the fire hasn’t entered either of those parks and crews are working really hard to contain the fire and limit the spread so it doesn’t impact those areas,” Mr Pettman said.
“The winds have kept the fire up overnight and the fire has continued to slowly burn through that inaccessible terrain — our crews have been working really hard overnight to try and implement control lines around this fire.
“The fire has continued to move in a south-westerly direction towards Cleland Gully Road. However, our crews have continued to hold the fire overnight but it is still burning in those inaccessible areas.”
Roads have been closed in the area. (ABC News: Caroline Horn)