Bushfire crisis: no break for fire crews on containment duties

Thousands of weary firefighters will forgo time with their families on Christmas Day to take advantage of cooler temperatures to build containment lines.

The Cudlee Creek bushfire in the Adelaide Hills on Monday. Picture: AAP

Thousands of weary firefighters will forgo time with their families on Christmas Day to take advantage of cooler temperatures in South Australia and NSW to build containment lines against expected hot weather later in the week.

As shattered families ­returned on Monday to find their homes had been reduced to rubble following the weekend of deadly bushfires, South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said crews were racing to prepare for the next onslaugh­t.

Friday’s catastrophic fire at Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills killed 69-year-old Ron Selth and razed 86 homes.

“I am quite amazed that there has only been one fatality. The catastrophic conditions … were just extraordinary,” Mr Marshall said. “Right on the eve of Christmas, some people returned to their homes to find nothing there. It couldn’t come at a worse time.”

Adelaide Hills Mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom said “shattered” residents returned on Monday to pick through what was left of their homes. “The mood is sombre,” Ms ­Wisdom told the ABC. “Some people­ are still unsure about what the situation is for themselves and their neighbours.”

The South Australian Country Fire Service said favourable Christmas weather conditions would hopefully bring a much-needed reprieve for exhausted fire crews as they work to strengthen containment lines across 25,000ha on Adelaide’s outskirts.

Air quality in Adelaide is expected­ to reach levels nearly six times the threshold considered hazardous, for the second day in a row on Tuesday.

“A southeasterly wind will blow smoke from the Adelaide Hills ­region across the city on Tuesday,” said Tom Boeck, senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology.

Adelaide’s CBD peaked at 200 micrograms of PM 10 particles on Monday, while in suburban Kensington levels rose to 350 micro­grams, seven times the normal­ level of 50 micrograms.

In NSW, families who fled Balmoral after watching their homes burn to the ground returned to ­inspect the smouldering remains of their properties on Monday.

James Cohens, the deputy captain of Balmoral Village Fire Brigade, said the scale of devastation was “astonishing”. “It would have definitely been quite horrendous for the crews and for the property owners that were in the area at the time,” he said. “Fire has charred trees right up to the canopy (and) right next to houses.”

NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers warned on Monday that conditions were ­expected to deteriorate at the weekend.

“The next few days are going to be very important to try and get backburns in place … the threat has by no means passed in the Blue Mountains,” he said.