Liberal MP on frontline as fire threatens Fleurieu Peninsula
Residents near the Tooperang bushfire on the Fleurieu Peninsula are being told to prepare to leave after one local family lost a home. Liberal MP David Basham telling InDaily about fighting alongside one property owner overnight.
Residents on the Fleurieu Peninsula are being warned to prepare to leave as as an uncontrolled blaze continues to burn through scrub near Tooperang.
Natasha Price, her three children and her partner were at the beach as the bushfire destroyed their home on Sunday. Price told ABC Radio the motorhome they lived in on a property was destroyed and the family was unable to reach the home as roads were blocked.
The blaze, which started on Sunday and continued overnight, has destroyed structures and farm sheds, as it continues to burn over 650 hectares.
Emergency services, including 40 Country Fire Service trucks and more than 120 firefighters, are on site trying to stop the blaze that has already destroyed structures, farm sheds and affected vineyards.
Local MP David Basham said it was difficult to see if one property destroyed by fire on Nakita Rd was a home as the only remaining structure was roof iron.
On Sunday, the CFS issued a “Leave Now” warning, but by Monday that had been changed to “Prepare to Leave”.
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That warning this morning told residents to prepare to leave the zone around Nankita Road, Cleland Gully Road, Stones Ford Road, Heifer Road and Through Road near Tooperang and Nangkita, 10 kilometres east of Mount Compass.
When news emerged of the fire breaking out on Sunday, Finniss MP and Liberal Climate and Environment spokesman David Basham rushed to a dairy farm impacted by the blaze to help its owners, fighting alongside several locals including the property owner Perrin Hicks and his two adult sons.
“It was pretty scary up there, it’s a challenge to get there and a challenge to get back out of there if you need to,” Basham told InDaily.
The property is about one km from where Basham formerly had a farm and “29 years ago to the day a fire went rapidly through the area” and locals descended to help him fight it.
“I knew where it was, we used to lease the property… it was pretty windy through to around 11 o’clock and there was an awful lot of smoke,” Basham said.
He returned to his Victor Harbor home around 12.30am but returned to check in with locals this morning saying there were concerns a wind change could turn the fire toward Mount Compass.
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South Australian Police and South Australian Ambulance Service were supporting firefighters as they tried to control the fire also using firebombers and observational aircraft.
“Firefighters and incident management personnel from SACFS and supporting agencies are working hard in inaccessible terrain including scrub and plantation to continue to extinguish the fire,” the CFS’s latest update said.
Firefighters would focus efforts between Cleland Gully and Nangkita roads as they tried to extinguish the fire ahead of a wind change forecast for around lunchtime today.
Current road closures are in place on Nangkita and Cleland Gully roads.
Firefighters rushed to the grass and scrub fire at Tooperang on Sunday, five kilometres east of Mount Compass with it ranging over 420 hectares.
Some 60 CFS fire trucks and more than 200 firefighters were at the scene as they continued to fight the blaze overnight.
“This scrub fire is burning slowly in a south-south-westerly direction from Nankita Road towards Cleland Gully Road and Through Road near Tooperang and Nangkita, 10 kilometres east of Mount Compass,” the CFS said today.
Firefighters were supported by Metropolitan Fire Service, South Australian Police and South Australian Ambulance Service as they tried to contain the fire and limit the impact to the local community, supported by several aircraft, including firebombers and observational aircraft.
Conditions are continually changing. For updates, check the CFS website at cfs.sa.gov. au or phone the Information Hotline on 1800 362 361.
