South Australia bushfires: At least two killed in devastating blaze

HUNDREDS of fire fighters continue to battle deadly blazes that have ripped through South Australia, claiming two lives with fears for a third.

Bushfire north of Mallala in the states mid north. photo Calum Robertson

HUNDREDS of fire fighters continue to battle deadly blazes that have ripped through South Australia, claiming two lives with grave fears the toll will rise.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill confirmed the deaths and said at least 13 people had been hospitalised in an update on progress to contain the fire Thursday morning.

Among the injured, five are in a serious or critical condition, while another three people have been reported missing.

Efforts to contain two major bushfires burning north of Adelaide continue, with more than 85,000 hectares of cropping land and several homes and other buildings destroyed in just a few hours.

At least 16 homes have been destroyed in the fires, with efforts to contain the fires by more than 400 firefighters continuing.

The blaze began around midday on Wednesday, threatening towns in the Mid North and Barossa Valley. Emergency warnings issued for residents in the area were downgraded late in the day to watch and act messages but not before two people were killed.

The first death involved a body found in a paddock at Pinery, near where the blaze started, and the second was a person found dead in a car near Hamley Bridge.

The third, unconfirmed, death involved a person who crashed a car into a tree at near Freeling, AAP reports.

The blaze north of Mallala in the states mid north on Wednesday. Picture: Calum Robertson

The blaze continues to burn around a series of towns including Owen, Hamley Bridge, Tarlee, Freeling, Wasleys, Kapunda and Greenock but the threat has been reduced to a watch and act alert for locals.

The Country Fire Service said Thursday would be critical to bringing the blaze under control, though chief officer Greg Nettleton expected crews to be working on the fire for several days.

He said some parts of the more than 200km perimeter would be easy to contain and render safe but others would take time to contain.

Strike teams and water bombing aircraft from interstate will hit the fire ground on Thursday to provide relief for local volunteers. Weather conditions are also expected to be more favourable with lower temperatures and moderating winds.

In an update on Thursday morning the CFS said it was hoping to have the fire declared contained in the next two or three days.

At the height of the fire about 22,000 properties were left without power and SA Power Networks said about 10,000 of those were unlikely to have services restored until Thursday.

The blaze has claimed several homes and properties. Picture: Calum Robertson

A leading academic watched his South Australia farm “explode in a fireball” on Wednesday. It was one of several properties destroyed.

The vice chancellor of Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, Professor Simon Maddocks, tweeted: “Cameras let me see but helpless to act.”

He was among many people who took to social media to post pictures and provide other information on the fire.

Others showed images of sheds and buildings on fire, burning cars that had been abandoned and homes that were destroyed or damaged.

Watched my farm in SAust explode in fireball today - devastating bushfire - cameras let me see but helpless to act pic.twitter.com/9XwqeG8thq

— CDU Vice-Chancellor (@CDUni_VC) November 25, 2015

CFS state co-ordnadtor Phil McDonagh this morning said conditions in the bushfire area had improved significantly, though there were still strong breezes across fire ground.

“Since 1am, we’ve had no growth in the fire at all,” he told ABC 891.

“It’s quietened right down. The only active fire that we have is in the clumps of native scrub and woody areas.”

Eleven strike teams will fight the blaze today, and 10 strike teams from Victoria would be deployed on to the fire ground on Friday morning.

Parts of Australia’s south east are on bushfire alert. This warning graphic was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a severe weather warning is in place for New South Wales, with a forecast 38 degree day triggering total fire bans in the Greater Hunter and Greater Sydney regions.

Hot, dry and gusty west to north-westerly winds are expected ahead of a gusty south to south-westerly change moving across southwestern and southern New South Wales.

Severe fire danger is forecast for Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney Region, Northern Slopes and North Western areas.

Earlier this month at least four people died in fires in Western Australia where a local farmer and three tourists became trapped by an inferno in the Esperance area.