Australia Weather News

South Australians are being urged to prepare ahead of extreme fire danger conditions on Monday.

Both the eastern Eyre Peninsula and Mount Lofty Ranges have been declared extreme fire danger areas by the Bureau of Meteorology and Country Fire Service (CFS), while high ratings span the rest of the state, with only the Adelaide metropolitan area falling into a moderate risk.

Temperatures are set to reach 38 degrees Celsius in Adelaide, 41C in Port Augusta, 40C in Port Pirie, 38C in Mount Gambier and 37C in Whyalla.

CFS state duty commander Ray Jackson said it was “certainly a challenging day for our firefighters”. 

“Even if you’re not in a total fire ban area today you still need to be vigilant – it’s still a significant day,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide on Monday.

“It doesn’t matter where you are, you do need to be vigilant, you need to make sure you’re looking and listening for information.”

Mr Jackson said the CFS has stood up its State Command Centre amid the heightened fire risk.

Regional command centres are also up and running in the total fire ban areas, he said.

"Some brigades will stand up on days like today and go and wait at the station, others will be vigilant to see what’s going on and will respond as needed," he said.

“We’re as ready as we can be. We have our aircraft are all stood up now so they are all active and ready to go, they’ll come online around 9am this morning ready to respond."

Fires in Riverland, Fleurieu Peninsula

Over the last 24 hours, two fires have been reported across the Riverland and Fleurieu Peninsula. 

A scrub and grass fire 11km south of Blanchetown was first reported at 8:30pm on Sunday and was still burning as of 9am on Monday. 

The CFS said the cause of the fire was yet to be determined and volunteers on seven trucks were working to extinguish it.

Meanwhile, a grass fire at Second Valley, roughly 8km east of Rapid Bay in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula, has been contained after the efforts of around 30 CFS and Forestry SA firefighters.

The Second Valley fire was first reported around 1:19pm on Sunday.

Premier Peter Malinauskas called on people to be ready for any potential issues.

"Complacency is the ultimate enemy when it comes to bushfire risk," he said.

"If people throughout the state are genuinely well-prepared and planned, that could literally be the difference between life and death."

CFS chief officer Brett Loughlin said a combination of hot, windy and dry conditions would be at play, and it was essential for households to prepare their bushfire action plans.

"I urge people to take the risk seriously," he said.

"We still have a lot of summer to go, and it's only going to continue to be dry, and these risky days are only going to continue to occur."

Parklands fires under investigation

Meanwhile, police are investigating a series of suspicious fires that broke out in Adelaide's parklands on Saturday.

Firefighters were called to Veale Gardens in the South Parklands just after midday following reports of smoke, and a small grass fire was extinguished.

Authorities responded to another incident at around 7pm near Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue, extinguishing four separate fires believed to be deliberately lit.

Another grass fire was reported just before 11pm near West Terrace.

Police say the area was searched with air assistance, but no suspects were located.

Mr Malinauskas said those involved faced the possibility of "very severe punishment".

"Pull your head in," he said.

"We live in the driest state, in the driest continent, anywhere in the world.

"This is not the time of the year to be taking any risks."