SA Police arrest two teenagers after Port Lincoln bushfire

A landowner whose property was threatened by one of two fires at the weekend has told of how quickly the situation changed as four people were charged over the separate incidents.

A Penfield property owner whose home and sheds came under threat by a fast-moving bushfire sparked by an angle grinder has recalled how quickly the choking smoke engulfed the area as it tore through grassland.

It comes after a weekend in which four people – including two teenagers – were charged after separate fires across the state amid a warning from authorities about the dangers of fire season.

Two men were charged over a large fire allegedly sparked by an angle grinder that quickly grew out of control near Womma Rd in Penfield after 2.30pm Saturday.

The fire burnt about 33 hectares of property before the 42 responding CFS and MFS crews got it under control.

CFS battles a bushfire in Port Lincoln on Sunday. Picture: Lincoln CFS

A number of irreplaceable WWII vehicles were damaged in the blaze that took a huge response to bring under control, and came close to a retirement village and also damaged greenhouses in the area.

In another, unrelated incident on the Eyre Peninsula, two Port Lincoln teens were arrested and charged after a scrub fire burnt through an acre of land near Bernard Place and Garrett Rd.

No homes were threatened in that incident. Police arrested a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old who were charged with bushfire related offences.

Police in a statement said as the state moved into fire danger season that authorities would “take a zero-tolerance approach to fires caused by deliberate, reckless or negligent behaviour”.

“Bushfires not only destroy communities and properties but have the potential to kill,” the statement read.

CFS crews after battling a bushfire in Port Lincoln on Sunday. Picture: Lincoln CFS

Penfield property owner Colin told FIVEAA breakfast radio he first smelled smoke before finding higher ground and realising the size of the blaze.

“I could see the fire (was) quite high and it was heading towards our fence,” he said.

“By that time it had already taken hold and because we’re on a bit of acreage here, you have grass and that sort of thing.

“Unfortunately the wind just (happened) to be coming from that direction where it just blew it straight towards our place.”

He tried using a garden hose to protect his property but it got to a point where he “couldn’t really see just a few feet in front” of him.

“I got quite overwhelmed with smoke,” he said.

“Our house was saved and I’ve got quite a few bigger buildings around here – a big shed which has a lot of stuff in them.

“The fire went right up to the back of one shed and it just burnt right along the edge of the shed.

“How that didn’t go further, I just don’t know.”

He said embers landed on palm trees around his house.

“It just went so fast, the fire, you just couldn’t imagine that this is what was going to happen,” he told the program.

“It actually went around buildings and even glass houses. My neighbours are actually changing their plastic as we speak because it burnt the plastic.”

A number of World War II vehicles that had been kept in his back paddock were damaged in the fire.

“These things are pretty well irreplaceable,” he said.

“A small decision just has a major impact of devastation without thinking about those sorts of things first.”

A 31-year-old Waterloo Corner man and a 31-year-old Penfield man were arrested at the scene and have been charged with cause a bushfire being recklessly indifferent.

They were both refused bail and will appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Monday.