Two dead in South Australia bushfires

The premier late Wednesday said two people had died in the inferno around the town of Pinery, some 70 km north of Adelaide.

The fire causing most concern is near Maitland in the Hunter Valley, which has caused a local preschool to self-evacuate but there’s no direct threat to properties.

Country Fire Service director Brenton Eden said the fire was no longer out of control and had been contained within a 210-kilometer (130-mile) perimeter since Wednesday night.

Earlier, fire fighters warned an “extremely dangerous” bush fire is burning north of Adelaide, local media reported.

Fire authorities hope to have the fire under control within the next two days and a watch and act alert remains in place for the blaze.

More than 85,000 hectares of grass, cropping land and scrub has been destroyed, with at least 16 homes, a number of outbuildings and an unknown number of vehicles and machines destroyed.

The deaths were confirmed by South Australia state Premier Jay Weatherill, who called it the “worst of news”.

He said some parts of the more than 200km perimeter would be easy to contain and render safe but others would take time to contain.

Wildfires killed four people near the southwest town of Esperance two weeks ago.

Livestock assessment teams from Primary Industry and Regions SA were on the ground on Thursday morning to help land owners assess and deal with the burned or injured livestock.

Weather conditions were expected to moderate on Thursday with lower temperatures and winds dropping during the day.

A destroyed house burning near Roseworthy on Wednesday. No lives were lost but the fire destroyed 27 homes and injured 134 people, mainly firefighters.

“Since 1am, we’ve had no growth in the fire at all”, he told ABC 891.

If the building catches on fire and the conditions inside become unbearable, you need to get out and go to an area that has already been burnt.

More than 400 firefighters are battling the flames with 200 more personnel to arrive from Victoria bringing an additional 50 firefighting appliances.

Bushfires are common in Australia’s hotter months.