South Australia bushfires slow, giving firefighters a chance to gain upper hand
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Version 0 of 1. Five fires continue to burn in South Australia but conditions are easing, enabling firefighters to get some much-needed rest. Only the Bangor fire in the Southern Flinders ranges remains subject to a watch and act alert. The Country Fire Service (CFS) on Monday said the reduction in fire activity enables crews to continue to strengthen control lines, extinguish hotspots and patrol the fire grounds. At least 15 houses were lost in the blazes across the state over the weekend, but no fires are threatening lives or property. The CFS says fire activity has significantly slowed at Bangor, but there are still areas with active flames and locals should continue to have their bushfire action plan activated. Other continuing blazes include a fire in the Eden valley and in the Billiatt conservation park. "We still have over 330 personnel and five aircraft assisting with these fires from interstate fire agencies," a CFS spokesman said. "This has boosted our firefighting and incident management capabilities as well as allowing some personnel to get some much-needed rest." A regional commander, John Hutchins, said crews were already physically and emotionally drained. "A leader of the volunteers rang me up crying, because he'd lost houses," he told ABC Radio. More than 445,000 hectares of grass, scrub, forest and bushlands has been burnt since fires started last Tuesday. |