Brendan Simpkins

TEMPERTURES reached into the mid-40s on Friday and the public was on edge as a crop fire at Templers threatened to descend into catastrophe.

It evoked memories of the devastating Pinery bushfire that swept through the area, the fifth anniversary of which had taken place just two days earlier on November 25.

Just before 1pm, alerts were issued for a grass fire which had started in farm land adjacent to the Horrocks Highway at Templers and was heading towards the nearby Freeling township.

That prompted a widespread response, with close to 250 Country Fire Service firefighters from 38 trucks on the scene to help bring the blaze under control.

Units that attended included Freeling, Roseworthy, Nuriootpa, Greenock and Two Wells among others from nearby, while further crews remained on standby incase the situation worsened.

Aerial support was called in with four aircrafts dispatched from the Hoyleton airbase to assist and 17 water drops carried out.

An emergency warning was issued for Templers at about 1.30pm, with the fire travelling in a south-easterly direction towards the Thiele Highway.

Police had put road blocks in place along the highway to prevent vehicles travelling into the oncoming fire.

The fire was contained about an hour later with crews remaining on scene to compete control lines and extinguish spot fires.

Approximately 400 hectares of farming land were burnt in the fire, and two vehicles were destroyed, however no injuries were reported.

CFS Light Group Officer Phillip Earl said the fast response from farm units played a pivotal role in helping to slow the spread of the blaze.

“That was the saviour, between them and the airplanes,” he said.

“It ran into a lentil crop which slowed its progress down. I know when it went into the lentil crop about 30 private units went into the paddock about the same time and because there were little spot fires all over the paddock, they all went to the spot fires and put them out.

“At one stage it looked like it was threatening to jump the Thiele Highway but they managed to pull it up halfway across the paddock.”

Mr Earl said the Pinery bushfire was in the back of his mind on the day, with conditions similar to those experienced in 2015.

“On the day we had 43 degrees locally with winds at 30 kilometres/hour gusting to 48, so it was very similar to the Pinery day, and it was a real team effort by all concerned to pull the fire up in the time that we did.”

Mr Earl thanked the hardworking efforts of the farm units who assisted, saying they did a “marvellous job”.

Investigations are still being carried out as to how the fire started.

Fire at Uleybury  a ‘challenging job’

TWO days after the Templers fire took place, another blaze ignited at Uleybury, north of Craigmore.

The grass fire broke out in a paddock on Vivian Road with firefighters called to the scene just after 2.30pm on Sunday.

Both Country Fire Service and Metropolitan Fire Services responded.

On the scene were 165 firefighters, with 30 CFS trucks and seven MFS trucks in attendance, while water bombers were called in from Hoyleton to provide aerial assistance.

Crews from Dalkeith, One Tree Hill, Virginia, Lyndoch and Tanunda CFS responded, with Elizabeth, Salisbury and Golden Grove MFS in attendance among others.

CFS Region 2 commander Brenton Hastie said it was a “challenging job” with a number of assets in a confided area.

The fire was contained just before 5pm that night with a warning for smoke drift issued to nearby properties.

Crews remained on the scene into the night, mopping up and ensuring the fire was completely extinguished.

The blaze was started by a slasher and burnt through 82 hectares of land.

Fires serve as a reminder

COUNTRY Fire Service Region 2 Commander Brenton Hastie said last week’s fires served as a reminder to avoid becoming complacent.

As of Tuesday, all fire ban districts across the state had commenced Fire Danger Season.

Despite a wet spring and cooler weather across November, Mr Hastie said the risk of bushfires still remains.

“We are not wanting people to underestimate the risks,” he said.

“Both the Templers fire and the Uleybury fire show that the increased grass growth across the northern regions the risk of bushfires still remains.

“The challenge of the fires we are likely to see this year, which is grass fires, is that they move very, very quickly and they can run to days after rainfall, it only takes strong wind and cured grass and away you go.”

The Uleybury fire was ignited following the use of a slasher, with the operator waiting until temperatures had cooled to start that process.

Mr Hastie that particular incident was a good reminder of the threat bushfires pose.

“It is unfortunate that someone doing the right thing in terms of slashing and being prepared for the fire season has actually been the cause of a fire, it does happen,” he said.

“It is a reminder that even under relatively benign conditions, you can have a fire that causes a whole lot of concerns.”

Mr Hastie recommended residents to implement a bushfire survival plan if one was not already in place