Uncontrolled Scrub Fire Rages Near Mount Compass in Tooperang

Hundreds of firefighters have been battling a scrub fire burning near Mount Compass south of Adelaide, which remains uncontrolled and is believed to have impacted structures. The Tooperang fire broke out about 4:30pm on Sunday and has so far blackened about 450 hectares of grass and scrub, the Country Fire Service (CFS) says. A watch and act message has been issued for an area including Tooperang, Nangkita, Mount Jagged and Mosquito Hill, with the CFS advising residents to take action. Water bombers have been battling the fire, which the CFS said had "impacted" an area between Nangkita Road and Cleland Gully Road, "including structures and farm sheds". CFS state duty officer Ben Pettman said the extent of the damage — including its full impact on properties — was not yet known, but would become apparent during the day. "At this stage our crews have been unable to assess the full damage of this fire [but] later on today our crews, as we get daylight out there, will be able to make a better assessment," he told ABC Radio Adelaide. ABC reporter Caroline Horn is in the area and said she could see burnt-out paddocks that were "still smouldering", as well as other damage. "Unfortunately there is a structure that you can see that's been destroyed. I don't know whether it's a shed or a house," she told ABC Radio Adelaide. The CFS says more than 200 firefighters supported by more than 60 trucks and other agencies including the Metropolitan Fire Service had worked into the night to reduce the fire's spread. "Conditions on the fireground today are expected to be around 28C but the winds are continually shifting … so the conditions will allow the fire to pick up and change directions at short notice," Mr Pettman said. "The fire is approximately a few kilometres east of Mount Compass between Nangkita Road and Cleland Gully Road. It's burning in inaccessible terrain at the moment in a patch of scrubland and around areas of grassland in the properties in that area." Mr Pettman said crews were working to stop the spread to Mount Magnificent and Cox Scrub conservation parks. "Thankfully at this stage the fire hasn't entered either of those parks and crews are working really hard to contain the fire and limit the spread so it doesn't impact those areas," Mr Pettman said. "The winds have kept the fire up overnight and the fire has continued to slowly burn through that inaccessible terrain — our crews have been working really hard overnight to try and implement control lines around this fire. "The fire has continued to move in a south-westerly direction towards Cleland Gully Road. However, our crews have continued to hold the fire overnight but it is still burning in those inaccessible areas."