Add Category
At least one home has been destroyed and several other dwellings impacted by a bushfire that tore through an Alice Springs rural area Friday afternoon.
Key points:
- Vehicles and structures have been damaged in a blaze that started on Friday afternoon
- An investigation is underway into how the fire started
- Flammable buffel grass was a concern for some residents
More than a dozen vehicles and a number of other structures were burnt out by the blaze which has since been brought under control and the alert level downgraded.
An emergency warning was issued around 2:30pm Friday for properties along Colonel Rose Drive and Schaber Road.
Many of the properties impacted form part of the Amoonguna Land Trust.
Fire and Rescue told residents to implement their emergency plans and consider evacuating their properties.
Speaking to ABC Radio Alice Springs on Saturday, southern district officer Stephen Hunter said arrangements had been made to support one family that had lost their home.
Mr Hunter said the full extent of the damage was still being assessed.
"There's definitely some homes that have been impacted out there," he said.
"And then there are the outstations and the sheds that they go with it, and there's quite a few cars that have been burned out as well out there."
He said an investigation had commenced into where the fire started and what might have caused it.
"It is a open investigation, so I'm not going to comment on the findings at this time," he said.
"However, it is being taken very seriously and the fire investigator will work through the weekend to develop their understanding of those causes."
Mr Hunter urged landholders to maintain their firebreaks to protect themselves and their families.
"The properties that had firebreaks in there yesterday … had a really positive contribution to the outcome of that fire," he said.
"[It allowed] the crews had a safe place to work, and the crews could use those firebreaks as a tool to pull this fire up."
He also stressed the importance of having a bushfire survival plan in place.
Concerns over buffel grass
Terry Tilmouth's property had only minor damage from the blaze, with a few fence posts needing to be replaced.
But it was a different story for properties surrounding his which were significantly impacted by blaze.
"I was watching it come down from the creek from the eastern side," Mr Tilmouth said.
"It started up there, and I was watching the smoke, and then it wasn't that long after that I started seeing the flames.
"By the time the flames got [to my property] they were two to three metres high from the buffel grass."
Mr Tilmouth raised concerns about the amount of buffel grass in Central Australia.
"I killed all the buffel grass [on my property], and kept kept it clean, whipper snipped it," he said.
"I believe it is a weed. It should be declared a weed. It's highly flammable and it's overtaking all the natural grass.
"It was pretty thick after the recent rains … and that's what caused all the fuel."
High fuel load following rain
Watching on from the road on Friday, David Royle, who lives a few streets down from where the fire took hold, said he had seen many fires in the area over the years.
"It has been concerning because it looks like it's really close [from my place]," he said.
"I am cutting the grass consistently and I recently bought a new mower to cut it.
"This is concerning because of all the rain we had in January."
Emergency Services have advised people in the area to continue monitoring conditions.