Mount Lofty Ranges Fire Ban District Extended
17/04/2025
Soil dryness, high forest and scrub fuel loads, combined with predictions of no meaningful rainfall for the coming months has prompted the extension of the Mount Lofty Ranges Fire Ban District by two weeks to 14 May.
Several districts including the Mid North, Murraylands, Riverland, Lower South East, Upper South East, Yorke Peninsula, Adelaide Metropolitan and Kangaroo Island will end as scheduled on 30 April, with all other districts already out of season.
Despite the season end in sight for most districts, South Australian communities are reminded not to become complacent, as dry conditions and minimal rainfall continues to pose a risk of bushfire in the landscape throughout autumn.
Acting Deputy Chief Officer, Brenton Hastie, said current weather predictions indicate no meaningful rain for April, May and parts of June.
"Fuel loads vary across the Mount Lofty Ranges, with high forest and scrub fuels in parts and somewhat low fuels in others, and the exceptionally dry conditions and lack of forecast rain in the near future poses a risk of fire," Mr Hastie said.
"Volunteers have worked incredibly hard to keep the South Australian community safe throughout this Fire Danger Season and will continue to respond to incidents across the state, but the community need to be aware that the risk of fire won't abate until there is significant rainfall."
"CFS volunteers in the Mount Lofty Ranges are still observing concerning fire behaviour when responding to incidents due to how dry it is across the district, which was evident during the weekend's fire at Bull Creek."
CFS volunteers have continued to reliably respond to approximately 5,155 incidents across the state so far this Fire Danger Season with considerable incidents including the Wilmington Fire in February and the lightning events across the South East last month.
Aerial resources have played a critical role in supporting firefighters to suppress fires across the South Australian landscape with a total of 1,344 individual aircraft dispatches attending 223 incidents across the state this Fire Danger Season, five less incidents than last season.
Fixed wing and rotary aircraft completed 2,966 drops combined across 1,920 hours flown, which is a significant increase on last year's 1,594 drops and 1,399 hours, signifying longer and larger incidents in comparison to last year's Fire Danger Season.
As Easter approaches, the community is reminded that rules of the Fire Danger Season still apply for much of the state, which means there are restrictions around if a campfire can be lit, localised restrictions may also apply in National Parks and Forestry reserves.
