Home and sheds destroyed, but SA avoids major bushfire
South Australia avoided a major bushfire as the state sweltered through a day of extreme danger on Monday, while two structure fires left a damage bill of $1 million.
South Australia has avoided a major bushfire after a day of extreme fire danger, but two structure fires are estimated to have caused a combined $1 million in damage.
The Country Fire Service (CFS) state duty officer Chris Sedunary said teams responded to "four or five" grass fires on Monday, after total fire bans were declared for the Eastern Eyre Peninsula and Mount Lofty Ranges districts.
The CFS stood up extra firefighting resources on Monday and urged people to be vigilant as temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the state.
Two grass fires — one at Second Valley on the Fleurieu Peninsula and another near Blanchetown in the Riverland — were contained on Monday.
A large shed fire was also reported on Kangaroo Road at Langhorne Creek, around 20km east of Strathalbyn, at 5:30pm on Monday.
About 130 CFS firefighters attended on 25 trucks to contain the fire, which burnt through packaging material and general waste stored within the shed.
CFS firefighters battled two structure fires in SA which caused a combined $1 million worth of damage. File image. (ABC News: Isabel Dayman)
The fire was estimated to have caused $300,000 in damage.
The cause remains under investigation, but the CFS said it was confident the fire started in the shed.
In the south-east town of Penola, around 50 CFS firefighters fought a blaze that started overnight at a property on South Terrace on the town's outskirts.
The fire destroyed a house and a shed on the property, causing an estimated $700,000 in damage.
SA Police, which are investigating the cause of the fire, said no-one was home at the time.
"When crews arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames, and the fire had spread to a shed and surrounding grass," police said.
"Firefighters extinguished the blaze but unfortunately the house was completely destroyed."
Fire danger rating lowered
Temperatures have dropped across South Australia today, as has the fire danger rating, which is now "high" in all districts, except the metropolitan area.
Mr Sedunary urged people not to be complacent in the cooler conditions.
"We didn't see any rain with the change yesterday so it's still very dry out. It's still a bit windy, so we still have high fire danger ratings for today," he said.
"We're certainly not on the safest of days but we don't have any total fire bans, but it's important people aren't complacent on days like today."
Mr Sedunary said the outlook was largely consistent for the rest of the week.