SA Country Fire Service

Media release

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Coomunga fire has been controlled

25/11/2012

A fire at Coomunga near Port Lincoln which had been burning since Tuesday has now been controlled.

In the early of the stages of the fire last week it was estimated to be within three hours of impacting on Port Lincoln and came as close as five kilometres to the town's fringe.

A combination of CFS firefighters' efforts, a continuous succession of fixed winged-aircraft culminating in more than 350,000 litres of water drops and a change of wind direction prevented serious consequences and potentially greater losses.

The Coomunga fire burnt just over 2,300 hectares of scrub and grassland but resulted in no major injuries or property damage despite the fire having directly threatened eight homes.

CFS Incident Controller Rob Ellis also paid tribute to other supporting agencies that resulted in a successful outcome.

"This was a difficult task that has demonstrated how effective the CFS can work with other agencies that supported our efforts to achieve a good result," Mr Ellis said.

"These included the MFS, SAPOL, SES, DEWNR and the Salvation Army who all did a fabulous job."

Although the fire has been declared "controlled" about 50 CFS firefighters will continue to monitor the area and extinguish any spot fires.

The cause of the Coomunga fire has yet to be determined.

For more information about other incidents visit the CFS website at www.cfs.sa.gov.au or contact the CFS Bushfire Information Hotline on 1300 362 361.

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Media information
For media enquiries call the CFS Media Line on 08 8115 3531.

Government of South Australia