Bushfire history

December

• Mount Wedge
• Many families were recovering from festive celebrations on Boxing Day when, just after 5:30pm, a plume of smoke was spotted at Mount Wedge, 25 kilometres northeast of Elliston on the Eyre Peninsula. CFS crews and Farm Fire Units, supported by aerial resources and local contractors, managed to initially halt the forward rate of spread. Crews worked tirelessly into the evening constructing control lines, ahead of forecasted unfavourable weather in the coming days.
• Despite best efforts, the fire broke containment lines during the early afternoon of the following day. High temperatures above 40 degrees supported the fires, intensity as it increased rapidly in size. This resulted in the formation of a pyrocumulus cloud that impacted the fireground with erratic winds.
• 16 CFS appliances and seven aircraft were supported by National Parks and Wildlife Service crews and FFUs. Crews managed to halt the forward rate of spread before reinforcements arrived.
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January

• Coles
• At 1:06pm on Wednesday, 19 January 2022, a grass fire in the area of Elad Road, Coles, in the southeast of the state was reported. The fire was being driven by an easterly wind through blue gum, blue gum slash and grass land.
• CFS crews, supported by Farm Fire Units and firebombers, were quick to respond and began conducting a direct attack on the fire. The terrain made it hard for ground crews. Despite their best efforts, the fire couldn’t be stopped and had burned 300 hectares within the first three hours. Multiple spot fires started, with spotting five kilometres ahead of the fire.
• By 4pm, the fire had been declared a level two incident, with a Level Two IMT set up by Region 5 at Lucindale, providing support to firefighters on the ground. This would soon be upgraded to a Level Three IMT.
• Numerous strike teams from Region 1 and 2 had begun arriving, with further requested for night shifts and from Region 3 for the following days. The calls for help extended off the fireground, with the Salvation Army helping to set up staging at the Lucindale Field Days site and the State Emergency Service (SES) assisting with a base camp at the Lucindale Area School.
• By 6:19pm that evening, crews had halted the forward rate of spread with advice messages downgraded. More than 165 firefighters worked during the night to halt the spread of the fire with the assistance of heavy plant machinery, which was used to create mineral earth breaks around the fire’s perimeter.
• Taking advantage of the overnight cooler conditions, crews had worked hard to create containment lines. Despite the fire making several runs to the north during the night, as day broke on Thursday, 20 January, the fire was burning mostly within containment lines. Further strike teams and specialised heavy machinery were brought in to assist.
• At 6:30pm on Thursday, the fire broke containment lines, with multiple spot fires burning to the west of the fire. Conditions were tough on the fireground and would only get worse as the fire began burning under extreme conditions, with spotting 8 - 15 kilometres from the fire. The first Emergency Warning Message was issued just before 8pm.
• CFS crews continued to be supported by Forestry Industry Brigades, Department for Environment and Water (DEW), and Farm Fire Units, with the additional support from the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA).
• Despite overnight conditions easing slightly, crews were preparing for a likely deterioration in fire behaviour on the third day, with the wind and temperatures expected to increase. The fire continued to burn in a south-westerly direction, with erratic fire behaviour and localised spotting occurring from ribbon bark embers close to the fire edge.
• By 9:30am on Friday morning, a Level 3 incident had been declared with 4,138 hectares burned. 150 firefighters remained on the fireground and continued to work on numerous spot fires, with about 40 spot fires contained west of Callendale Road. It was on this day at about midday, when the first reports of an incident involving firefighters occurred.
• It was soon to be determined two SA Country Fire Service members were involved in a falling tree incident, resulting in one fatality and one serious injury. The seriously injured CFS member was taken to hospital for further treatment and crews involved returned from the fireground for support from SPAM. The family and other personnel were informed and were being offered support.
• Thankfully, conditions on the fireground had reduced and the forward rate of spread had been halted late on Friday. Crews conducted back burning and continued to consolidate control lines to the west of the fire along its edge.
• The fire had burned 3,877 hectares and was declared contained at 3:50pm on Saturday, 22 January. It was deemed safe two days later, with no further fire spread expected.
• It would later be revealed that Senior Firefighter Louise Hincks had been killed and firefighter Kevin Maciunas was seriously injured, and the CFS continue to provide support to the families and brigades of the two CFS members who were involved in the incident at the Coles Fire.
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January

• Cherry Gardens
• While most South Australian’s were enjoying an extended Australia Day long weekend, the CFS was on high alert on Sunday 24 January, with severe weather forecast across the Mid North, Yorke Peninsula and Lower South East, with the Mount Lofty district tipped to hit an Extreme Fire Danger Risk.
• A fire on the Coorong had kept the State Control Centre on its toes during the day, but it was at 4:14pm that the largest series of incidents for the day (and second largest fire for the season) was reported.
• An initial report from the Mount Lofty Fire Tower of a smoke column near Orchard Road, Cherry Gardens, was met a short time later with SAPOL reporting a fire just 8 kms away. As the number of fires and spotting increased, CFS Volunteers quickly responded.
• Within 30 minutes an Emergency Alert was issued for the Cherry Gardens area, with the surrounding communities of Meadows, Echunga and Macclesfield soon being warned with a Watch and Act message.
• Region One had a Level 2 IMT on active standby, providing crucial initial support firefighters on the ground, while the Level 3 IMT was activated. Strike teams from CFS, National Parks and Wildlife, ForestrySA and MFS joined the efforts, and the IMT flexed up to include representatives from across the emergency response as well as SA Police, SA Ambulance Service, SA Power Networks and Local Government.
• By 7:40pm the fire had burnt through 800 hectares, and, despite only a light breeze, showed no signs of letting up, as crews fought multiple fire fronts overnight.
• As day broke on 25 January, the plume of smoke was still growing, and ash was falling across the state’s capital. The fire behaviour was erratic, with break outs pushing the fire front simultaneously to the north and south of the fire scar.
• Daylight provided the first chance to assess the carnage from overnight, with 2 houses destroyed and 2,149 hectares of land burnt.
• As conditions eased mid-morning, backburning operations got underway and crews were tasked with securing the fire perimeter and blacking out hotspots within the fireground- tasks that they would continue for the better part of the next fortnight.
• At around 4pm the heavens opened and rain began to fall on the fireground, allowing crews a handle on the incident that two and half hours later, the fire that many feared could go on for weeks, was officially declared contained.
• The rain presented its own set of challenges, with the hilly terrain around Bradbury becoming extremely unsafe, as torrential rain led to flooding across parts of the Hills and Adelaide Metropolitan area and mopping up efforts were abandoned.
• As South Australians awoke on Australia Day, volunteer firefighters returned to the fireground to ensure no log was left unturned in their efforts to make the fireground safe, using Thermal Imaging Cameras to track and extinguish hotspots across the area, supported by bucketing from helicopters and remote area fire teams (RAFT) from NPWSSA.
• The CFS maintained a presence in the area for 13 days, with the Cherry Gardens fire declared controlled on 3 February before being marked as safe and handed back to the landowners on 6 February.
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January

• Blackford (Lucindale)
• What felt like a relatively mild January afternoon, with temperatures and wind speeds in the low 30s, soon produced a raging inferno that left a path of destruction as it burned towards the township of Lucindale.
• At 12:37 on 11 January 2021 several calls reported smoke in three separate locations near the Mount Scott Conservation Park.
• As crews scrambled to investigate the reports, the fire creating the smoke quickly bit into the land around the park’s southeast corner.
• Within seven minutes of the original calls, aircraft were scrambling from the Lower South East and Parafield air bases. These aircraft became integral in providing intelligence on what was becoming a very fast-moving crop, grass and bushfire, and directly attacking the fire that soon became too dangerous for trucks to be in the path of.
• By 1:40pm the fire had been located and mapped by Air Observers at about 1049 hectares and burning in a SSE direction towards Lucindale.
• Ground crews scrambled to try to get control of the fire, with more resources being coordinated from DEW, Regions 1, 2 and 3, and the Victorian Country Fire Authority.
  The consumption of land and erratic fire behaviour was brought to fruition when a large, anvil-shaped pyrocumulus cloud rose from the fireground.
• More than 250 firefighters did all they could to slow the fire and protect the township.
• Air support ground teams worked feverishly to load 101 drops for the fire bombers, while also relocating their operations from the Lucindale airstrip to the Naracoorte base as the fire approach.
• By nightfall the combined efforts had managed to slow the fire and protect the township.
• Morning revealed how close the fire had come to Lucindale, with several properties on the outskirts being saved from destruction.
• In total the fire destroyed 14074ha of land, 27 structures, close to 7000 livestock and kilometres of fencing.
• With fire predictions and Watch and Act Messaging showing the fire had the potential to reach as far east as Naracoorte, what was already a horrendous fire could have been much, much worse, if not for the combined efforts of all involved.
• The fire was classified as contained at 12:30 on 12 January 2021, with crews remaining on site for several days, Fire Danger Indexes falling, and local crews patrolling for the following weeks.
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November

• Yumali
• Temperatures were reaching for 40C and winds gusting to 60 kilometres per hour when what was believed to be sparks from a fallen power line ignited dry grass and crops near Goodall Road, to the east of Yumali.
• The fire, which started at around 2:23pm on 19 November 2020, quickly became one of the fastest travelling fires the area had seen in some time, consuming around 1000 hectares per hour before conditions began to ease.
• At the peak of the response more than 160 firefighters, supported by countless farm firefighting units, struggled to keep alongside of the blaze.
• Aircraft tending to the nearby Deepwater fire were retasked to Yumali, with an extra two firebombers sent from Hoyleton airbase, to carry out 46 drops to help secure the northern edge before a predicted direction change.
• As the winds eased, and the smoke began to clear, a fire scar of 4865 hectares was revealed.
• Remarkably only two sheds in the fires path were damaged, a vehicle destroyed, and four firefighters required treatment for burns.
• Over the following hours Regions 1,2 and 4, and DEW firefighters filled strike teams to help.
• The fire was classified controlled on 21 November 2020 at 6pm.
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December

• Keilira
• On 30 December 2019, a fire began at Keilira in the state's South East just after 9am.
• By early afternoon the fire had grown exponentially, with crews receiving reports of residents trapped in homes and a fire that was inaccessible by ground or air because of hazardous conditions.
• Visibility along parts of the Dukes Highway was reduced to below 100m and smoke was reaching as far away as 75km from the front in Naracoorte.
• More than 150 firefighters scrambled to protect homes and lives and stop the fire from travelling into nearby communities.
• Crews were able to stop the fire spreading during the night, but large tracts of unburnt scrub meant the fire continued to flare up for several days.
• By 9 January 2020, the fireground was declared safe, with 26,000 hectares burned and three homes lost.
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December

• Kangaroo Island fires - Menzies, Duncan and Ravine
• Dry lightning raked Kangaroo Island from late December 2019, igniting the Menzies and Duncan fires and planting the embers which would later merge with the Ravine fire.
• Local CFS crews and farm firefighting units had been engaged for weeks to contain the Menzies and Duncan fires when on 3 January, with conditions against them, the fire escalated.
• The whole Island was placed under alert as the fire raged, and at times almost two-thirds of the Island had an Emergency Warning Message in place.
• Dangerous winds and pyroconvective fire behaviour left nearly half of Kangaroo Island burnt out in a single day.
• By the time the fire was contained on 21 January 2020, the fires had burnt 211,474 hectares, destroyed 87 dwellings, 332 outbuildings, 322 vehicles, and killed more than 59,000 stock animals.
• Sadly, two lives were lost.
• The Ravine fire became one the of CFS's most challenging fires of late, with logistical difficulties and firefighting efforts seeing the assistance of SES, Department for Environment and Water, MFS, SA Police, SA Ambulance Service and the Australian Defence Force.
• Air support was also challenged to levels previously not experienced, with more than 14,000 drops completed by an arrangement of Large Air Tankers, the Helitak and multiple firebombers.
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December

• Cudlee Creek
• The Cudlee Creek bushfire started on 20 December 2019 shortly after 9am. The fire hit many towns throughout the Adelaide Hills that day including Lobethal at 12.05pm, Woodside at 12.50pm, Brukunga at 2.45pm, Harrogate area at 6.31pm, and Mount Torrens at 7.23pm.
• More than 2000 volunteers responded, and although the main charge of the fire was pulled up within 24 hours, breakouts and flare-ups continued for a further 10 days.
• Fire cause investigators suspect the cause to be related to power infrastructure. The fire resulted in the loss of one life and 51 firefighter injuries.
• The fire was finally declared safe on 3 January 2020.
• Although 85 homes were lost, hundreds were successfully defended as the fire consumed 23,295 hectares.
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November

• Yorketown
• The Yorketown bushfire began on 20 November 2019 which was a day of catastrophic weather conditions for the Yorke Peninsula.
• At just after 3.15pm a small grassfire was reported near the Yorketown Area School - spreading fast and encroaching on a nearby home. In less than 10 minutes the fire escalated as it quickly tore through scrub, crop and stubble.
• Farm firefighting units and local CFS brigades scrambled to contain the fire, with air support and strike teams from around the state soon joining local resources.
• A forecast wind change early the next morning arrived with a greater-than-predicted ferocity and new breakouts directly threatening the township of Edithburgh.
• In total, eight dwellings and 11 sheds were lost.
• The fire was contained on 21 November 2019, and later declared safe on 29 November 2019.
• The cause of the fire was later proven to be an electrical infrastructure fault.
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November

• Duck Ponds
• On 11 November 2019, a fire at Duck Ponds on the Lower Eyre Peninsula heralded the start of a challenging fire season.
• Just after 4pm, the call came through that a fire had been spotted at Duck Ponds, just west of Port Lincoln, and was burning towards houses on the outskirts of town.
• With emergency warning messages encouraging people to leave or seek shelter, around 90 CFS firefighters joined forces with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and MFS to fight the out-of-control fire and halt the forward rate of spread by 8pm.
• Firefighters managed to save 41 properties but the fire burnt 228 hectares, two homes and two sheds before being subdued.
• The fire was officially contained by 3am.
• Crews remained on the scene, mopping up and blacking out for four days, with the fireground continually monitored for flare-ups well into the following week. The fire was actively monitored until 21 November 2019.
• The cause was undetermined but thought to be an electric fence.
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November

• Pinery
• The Pinery fire occurred late in 2015, starting around midday on 25 November in the lower-Mid-North wheat belt, about 70km north of Adelaide. Due to high winds and open wheat fields, the fire moved with incredible speed not previously seen in a bushfire. Most of the destruction occurred during the first day.
• The Pinery fire initially burned in a south easterly direction from Pinery, pushed by strong winds. A south westerly change on the afternoon of the first day meant the entire eastern flank of the fire became a new, fire front burning in an easterly direction towards the Barossa Valley.
• In total, the fire burnt an estimated 82,500 hectares, impacting people, livestock and townships including Pinery, Mallala, Wasleys, Roseworthy, Freeling, Hamley Bridge, Daveyston, Greenock and Kapunda.
• More than 1,700 firefighters responded to the fire, with support provided by the Victoria Fire Authorities.
• Two lives were lost, along with thousands of livestock and about 91 homes destroyed, with many more damaged.
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January

• Sampson Flat
• The 2015 Sampson Flat bushfire began on 2 January 2015 in the Adelaide Hills.
• It burned uncontrolled for 4 days, destroying homes, businesses, forest, grazing land, vineyards, livestock and properties across about 12,600 hectares.
• From Sampson Flat, it travelled in a south easterly direction, impacting many towns including Kersbrook and Gumeracha.
• More than 3,500 firefighters responded to the fire, including support from NSW and Victorian fire authorities.
• The Sampson Flat Fire was declared a Major Emergency on 3 January.
• The fire destroyed about 24 houses, 103 sheds and caused 62 firefighter injuries, with a damage bill estimated at $13 million.
• There were no human fatalities as a result of this bushfire.
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January

• Billiatt (Riverland complex)
• Just after 6pm on 14 January, fires ignited in the Margaret Dowling Campsite, Billiatt (Halidon), Katarapko and Kringin (Korah Bore), with more lightning the following day sparking the Calpurum fire.
• The Billiatt fire travelled rapidly through the Billiatt Conservation Park, posing challenges for fire crews. Despite their best efforts, the majority of the Billiatt Conservation Park was burnt out. Following the valiant efforts of the CFS and DEWNR in managing the Riverland Complex, the fires were declared safe on 23 January.

January

• Ceduna complex
• A complex of grass fires ignited by lightning strikes north of Ceduna were among the first to spark across the state on 14 January.
• On the West Coast, a scrub fire in the Yumbarra Conservation Park was burning with an estimated 20-kilometre front, with further fires burning in surrounding areas including within the Pureba, Yellabinna and Watraba Conservation Parks.
• The CFS and Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) fire crews worked together with local Farm Fire Units to strengthen control lines and prevent the spread of fire into neighbouring agricultural areas.
• Over 46,000 hectares of conservation parks were burnt, with the fires contained on 17 January.

January

• Delamere
• A scrub and grass fire sparked near Delamere just before 6.30pm and burnt slowly in a north easterly direction. Over 100 CFS firefighters worked along extremely steep terrain to contain the fire. There was concern for around 20 properties, as the fire threatened the township of Delamere including properties on Main South Road to the west of Delamere, and those near Salt Cliffs and Nowhere Else Road.
• 150 firefighters adopted a direct attack on the fire, receiving support from 3 fixed wing aerial bombers and the air crane. The fire burnt through 100 hectares before being declared contained on 15 January, with firefighters continued to patrol the fire until 28 January.

January

• Rockleigh
• A fire ignited near Rockleigh in the Murraylands just after 3pm on 14 January, the third time communities in the area were threatened by fire within a 12-month period. More than 80 CFS firefighters responded to the incident, with asset protection being the initial priority as the fire burnt through open country.
• While significant fencing and livestock losses including a dwelling were sustained, it was due to the concentrated efforts of firefighters working in challenging conditions that multiple assets were saved.
• The Rockleigh fire burnt for 4 days before being declared as controlled.

January

• Ngarkat
• Just after 5.30am on 17 January a lightning strike ignited a fire within the Ngarkat Conservation Park in the state's upper south-east. Throughout the week, this fire burnt through more than 90,000 hectares as two separate fires. The incident is known as the Ngarkat complex of fires.
• Over 80 CFS and Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources firefighters combatted the fire, which burnt intensely in hot conditions through dense scrubland. The fire was declared as 'contained' on 20 January, with crews remaining on scene and patrolling the area for 3 more days until it was deemed as safe.

January

• Eden Valley
• The Eden Valley fire ignited just after midday on Friday 17 January, burnt through almost 25,000 hectares and was declared as 'contained' by Monday 20 January much to the relief of those on the front line, the personnel involved in managing the incident, and the fire affected communities.
• At the early stages of the fire 371 homes were counted in what would end up being the fire scar. Despite best efforts, unfortunately 4 of those were lost. Multiple sheds were also lost along with livestock, native fauna and hundreds of kilometres of fences.

January

• Bangor
• The Bangor fire, like other significant bushfires in South Australia including Wangary, Ash Wednesday and Kangaroo Island, will become etched in people's minds with stories shared about community spirit and the tireless efforts of CFS firefighters.
• What started as a small fire about 25 kilometres north-east of Port Pirie had the next morning expanded to what was described by firefighters as an area "the size of two football ovals" in an area of inaccessible and difficult terrain. Firefighters worked in shifts around the clock for 14 days before the Bangor fire was declared 'Contained' on 30 January and 'Controlled' on 6 February. Two days later with the onset of winds and hot temperatures the fire broke control lines in the south western corner and threatened the townships of Laura, Wirrabara and Stone Hut, and the small community of Beetaloo Valley.
• 31 days after it started, after burning more than 35,000 hectares, the Bangor fire was again declared as 'Controlled' on 14 February. While 5 houses were destroyed, dozens were saved. Many sheds were lost, with extensive damage sustained to fencing, and at least 700 sheep perished in the fire. 24 injuries were recorded but none serious, most involving smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion due to the extreme weather conditions that crews were working in. Many CFS veterans are hard-pressed to recall a similar incident requiring such a sustained commitment of firefighting resources.

• The influence of La Nina in the Pacific Ocean caused in excessive rainfall in the North East and North West Pastoral FBDs, which resulted in exponential vegetation growth. This combined with the dry lightning season led to a vast number of bushfires in the areas with about 5.58 million hectares of land being burnt.

13 January

• A fire at Proper Bay on 13 January 2009 on the outskirts of the City of Port Lincoln was the only major fire for the 2008-2009 fire danger season. The bushfire burnt around 252 hectares of grass and scrubland. The fire destroyed 4 houses, 2 fish processing factories and 2 vehicles.

19 November

• A lightning storm that passed across South Australia resulted in CFS responding to more than 100 fires within 24 hours. Fires were concentrated in the Eyre Peninsula, Flinders Ranges, Mid North, Yorke Peninsula and Lower South East regions. More than 2,000 CFS firefighters, 300 fire tankers and aircraft worked across the State responding to the fires. The CFS was supported by Forestry SA, DEH (now DEWNR), SASES, SAMFS and Farm Fire Units.
  
  The major incidents were:
• Curramulka (1,250 hectares)
• Pine Point (300 hectares)
• Formby Bay (30 hectares)
• Spring Gully (20 hectares)
• Wirrabara (20 hectares).

23 December

• The City of Port Lincoln was again directly threatened by bushfire just before Christmas in 2009, with 6 houses and around 30 sheds and outbuildings on the city fringe destroyed. The fire burnt an area of 650 hectares.

January

• On 10 January 2007, there was a bushfire at Mt Bold 30 km South East of Adelaide. The fire burnt through a mix of scrub, plantation, grass and forested areas. Up to 400 firefighters, more than 80 appliances, water bombers and observation aircraft attended to the fire.
  
  The Mt Bold fire burnt around 2,000 hectares and threatened around 60 homes in the Kangarilla and Echunga area. The fire destroyed 1 dwelling and numerous sheds, livestock and equipment sustained various degrees of fire damage.

December

• On 6 December 2007 a significant dry lightning storm ignited in excess of 14 fires on Kangaroo Island. Of these, 6 developed into major bushfires and burnt out of control for 10 days. The suppression response mobilised for these fires was the largest in South Australian history, and involved 1,400 people and resources from South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.
  
  22% (90,982 hectares) of the total land mass of Kangaroo Island was burnt. There was 1 fatality and nearly 3,000 hectares of agricultural and forestry land and assets destroyed.

January

• On 11 January 2005, South Australia experienced extreme fire weather with Fire Danger Indices in excess of 300 recorded on the Eyre Peninsula. Two fires of major significance occurred, one at Wangary on the Eyre Peninsula and the other at Mt Osmond in the Adelaide Hills. The Wangary fire burnt about 78,000 hectares with significant losses including 9 fatalities, 93 houses, 237 sheds, around 47,000 livestock, and 6,300 kilometres of fencing. The Mt Osmond fire burnt about 120 hectares with the loss of 3 buildings, 4 vehicles and 4 kilometres of fencing.

December

• Morphett Vale
• 300 hectares

November

• Mt Rescue
• 18,000 hectares

November

• De Molle River
• 6,800 hectares

December

• Gawler Ranges
• 15,000 hectares

January

• Rapid Bay
• 1,200 hectares

February

• During the 2 weeks of 1-9 February 2001, a fire near Tulka on the Lower Eyre Peninsula burnt through about 14,000 hectares of bushland and coastal vegetation. The township of Tulka consisting of 46 homes suffered significant losses with 11 houses destroyed and a further 10 suffering major damage. Many other assets were also damaged including: caravans, trailers, vehicles, boats, rainwater tanks and sheds.

December

• Hillbank
• 350 hectares

December

• Ngarkat
• 6,000 hectares

June

• Brownhill Creek
• 1,000 hectares

January

• Ngarkat
• 50,000 hectares

January

• Ngarkat
• 110,000 hectares

January

• Rapid Bay
• 300 hectares

January

• Heathfield
• 450 hectares

April

• Clare
• 400 hectares

October

• Flinders Chase
• 25,000 hectares

January

• Ernabella
• 900,000 hectares

• Fire report summaries included in the CFS annual reports from the 1980s refer to 40 major fires during the decade. The most significant of which were the Ash Wednesday I and II fires which occurred in February 1980 and February 1983. The focus on the devastation of these fires however tends to draw attention away from the fact that during the 1980s there were over 830,000 hectares burnt. 10 fires, predominantly in the sparsely populated north east of the state, were in excess of 10,000 hectares each. One, attributed to 43 lightning strikes in the pastoral area in November 1989, was estimated to be in excess of 600,000 hectares.

February

• Kersbrook
• 400 hectares

January

• Morialta
• 300 hectares

December

• Kapunda
• 2,569 hectares

November

• Strathalbyn
• 6,000 hectares

March

• Kapunda
• 1,200 hectares

February

• Pt Lincoln
• 200 hectares

January

• Black Hill
• 1,500 hectares

February

• Ash Wednesday II

April

• Horsnell Gully
• 400 hectares

February

• Ash Wednesday I
• 3,770 hectares

• Luke and McArthur (1978) report that from July 1966 to June 1972 the average number of fires attended annually in South Australia was about 900. The total area burnt each year averaged 190,000 hectares, ranging from 15,000 hectares to 900,000 hectares depending on the fire season. The estimates of financial loss ranged from $38,000 to $245,000 with an average of $210,000.
  
  Huge areas of arid and semi-arid pastoral country were burnt in 1974-75. The area burnt has been estimated at 16 million hectares: 3 million hectares of pastoral country and 13 million hectares of unoccupied land. A large proportion of the north-west of the State was burnt during the period from early November until early in February.
  
  Fire report summaries included in the CFS annual reports from 1978 and 1979 refer to four major fires during the 1978-79 fire season:
• 1,000 hectares at Yadlanue Station
• 1,200 hectares at Wilmington in December 1978
• 1,100 hectares at Pinnaroo in January 1979
• 7,400 hectares at Caveton in February 1979.
• A 480-hectare fire at Meningie was reported in December 1979.

• During 1960, damage estimated at $388,000 occurred when a fire burnt an estimated 6,000 hectares in northern Yorke Peninsula. Two other major fires occurred that year. One near Wirrabara in the Flinders Ranges, with damage estimated at $20,000 in an area of 8,000 hectare. The other near Tintinara where 100,000 hectares of pasture and scrub were burnt.
  
  In 1961, a fire in pastoral country burnt a large area near the Wilpena Pound in the northern Flinders Ranges.
  
  The next major fires occurred in 1968-69. A fire in the pastoral area in the Far North West of the State burnt an area of about 900,000 hectares. This was followed by a fire of about 8,000 hectares near Murdinga, on the Eyre Peninsula, where damage amounted to $140,000.

• During December 1951 fires caused by lightning burnt about 450,000 hectares in the eastern and north-eastern pastoral districts. A contributing factor to the extent of these fires was high fuel loads resulting from above average rainfall earlier in the year. Losses of stock, feed and fencing were heavy.
  
  The next widespread fire, known as ‘Black Sunday’, occurred in the Adelaide Hills on 2 January 1955. Adelaide recorded extreme fire weather conditions during the morning and afternoon, followed by a strong south-westerly change. Two fire fighters lost their lives and damage, spread over a total area of at least 40,000 hectares, was estimated at $4,000,000.
  
  The relatively mild 1957-58 fire season was followed by a dry autumn during which, in April 1958, eight fire fighters lost their lives in a pine plantation fire in the south-east.
  
  Towards the end of the 1950s, rainfall was above average in many districts, so large fires occurred from 1959 to 1961. In 1959, there were two major fires; one near Kongorong, in the South East, covered 28,000 hectares. It caused damage estimated at about $1,500,000, and cost the life of a grazier. The second fire burnt about 76,000 hectares of grassland and scrub near Wudinna, on the Eyre Peninsula.

• Data on fire occurrence before World War 2 in South Australia is not comprehensive. Summarised newspaper reports from that time indicate that for the period between 1917 and 1945 there were 44 fires recorded.
  
  The most widespread fires occurred in 1933-34, 1938-39 and I943-44. In each of these seasons, significant damage was experienced in south-east districts, in or near the Adelaide Hills, and on Eyre Peninsula.
  
  43 of these fires occurred between December and March:
• 4 in December
• 11 in January
• 12 in February
• 16 in March.