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FIREFIGHTERS across Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia will be on red alert today as soaring temperatures fuel the threat of bushfires in the three states.Total fire bans are in force in western and central Victoria, as well as southwestern New South Wales.In South Australia, patrols are being dispatched to homes of convicted arsonists and firebugs to monitor their whereabouts.Police will monitor at least 27 known pyromaniacs as the state faces the most extreme day of fire danger seen for years.Firebugs have been identified by multi-agency taskforce Operation Nomad, which targets deliberately lit fires. An extra 24 police patrols will also be roving through the Adelaide Hills and other areas of fire danger to monitor any fire activity.Record temperatures
Adelaide yesterday sweltered through its record-breaking 10th consecutive day of above 35C temperatures, with the mercury peaking at 39.2C at 2.36pm. With the temperatures forecast for 40C today, combined with expected strong north to north-westerly winds of up to 50km/h and the dry conditions, emergency services are on red alert state-wide.Chief Superintendent Trevor Johnson, officer in charge of Nomad, said police would be vigilant."There are some people in society that consistently go about the areas where there is risk in setting fires. It's into those places that we put these extra patrols so they can be vigilant and survey the first thing they see," he said.
Public warned
Country Fire Service deputy state co-ordinator Tim Davis warned the public to be fire ready, saying if a fire spread, it would be almost impossible to control."The vegetation is ready to burn and a fire can be started easily by things like vehicles, cigarettes and work equipment," he said. "These next two days will be the most difficult days for the CFS (and)if we haven't controlled the fire within the first 30 minutes it's going to be difficult to control."Rain helped firefighters battle scrub fires near Williamstown, believed to have been sparked by lightning at about 3.30pm yesterday. It took 180 firefighters about five hours to tackle the blaze at Warren Reservoir, between Gordon Rd and Warren Rd, which burned about 35ha.Earlier, a boy escaped without injury shortly before fire destroyed a house and a car parked in the driveway at Kensington Gardens.The boy was alone inside the Sandford St house when the blaze began at about 4.15pm. It caused more than $250,000 in damage.The night before, houses were engulfed at Alberton and Henley Beach by fires sparked by overloaded airconditioners. Power cuts hit several city and country areas yesterday but ETSA Utilities general manager (services) Sue Filby said the system functioned well. "So far we have had (fewer blackouts) than we might have expected."
As in the days of Noah....
