Catastrophic fire day predicted for SA
Catastrophic fire danger warnings have been issued for parts of South Australia as temperatures heat up.
Residents in the Mount Lofty Ranges, in the state's Lower South East region, have been warned to leave their homes by Friday morning because of predicted hazardous fire weather conditions.
"To ensure your survival you should leave tonight or early tomorrow morning," the Country Fire Service warned on Thursday.
"Well-prepared, well-constructed and defended homes may not be safe during a fire."
A fire starting under catastrophic conditions would be extremely difficult to manage and take significant resources and cooler weather, the CFS says.
Extreme and severe fire danger ratings have been forecast for most of the state.
Total fire bans are in place on Friday across all regions except the Northeast Pastoral area.
Nine regions have been warned about an extreme fire danger risk while severe fire danger warnings are in place in three regions.
The CFS says leaving before a fire starts is always the safest option for those who don't have a fire plan.
TOTAL FIRE BAN AND DANGER RATINGS FOR JANUARY 2, 2015:
Northwest Pastoral - Extreme
West Coast - Extreme
Eastern Eyre Peninsula - Extreme
Lower Eyre Peninsula - Extreme
Flinders - Severe
Mid North - Extreme
Mount Lofty Ranges - Catastrophic
Adelaide Metropolitan - Severe
Yorke Peninsula - Extreme
Kangaroo Island - Extreme
Riverland - Severe
Murraylands - Extreme
Upper South East - Extreme
Lower South East - Catastrophic
