Uncontrolled Bushfire Burning On Gorge Road At Montacute East Of Adelaide

Just east of the Adelaide suburb of Athelstone, on Gorge Road near Montacute, a wildfire is burning.

When a predicted wind shift occurs around 4:30 p.m. ADT, firefighters are trying to stop the fire from crossing Gorge Road in order to prevent it from spreading to the communities of Paracombe and Castambul.

Dennis Turner, incident controller for the Country Fire Service (CFS), said: "If it leaps over, we face the danger of pursuing it all night."

If it crosses the road, "[the] townships of Paracombe and Castambul are possibly under threat, so we have to be extremely mindful of that, and [we] are attempting to minimise that right now."The CFS has lowered a prior emergency warning to a "watch and act" notice.

For Gorge Road, Main Ridge Track, Lodge Track, Pinkerton Gully Road, Montacute, and Castambul, a watch and act message is in effect.

The Adelaide Hills scrubland fire, which started at around 11 a.m., has received assistance from roughly 60 fire vehicles and eight aircraft.

No structures are in danger as a result of the fire that is raging inside Black Hill Conservation Park.

About 45 hectares of bush had been destroyed by 3 p.m.

The CFS still claims that the fire "may risk your safety" despite the downgrading.

"Go away immediately. Before moving to a safer area, make sure the way is clear. It issued a warning, saying, "Do not enter this location as conditions are unsafe."

"The fire at Montacute is out of control." This brush fire is blazing toward Montacute Quarry and Montacute Road in a southeasterly direction. Conditions are always shifting.

Both Corkscrew Road and Gorge Road are blocked off.

Adelaide saw a high of 39 degrees Celsius.

Winds from the northwest are blowing strongly through the city.

Early this afternoon, a thunderstorm is expected, with winds shifting to the south, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Firefighters will continue to work for hours, according to CFS state duty commander Yvette Dowling.

The wind shift will undoubtedly affect the conditions on the fireground and make it a dangerous place to be, so crews will stay out there, she added, especially since it hasn't yet occurred.The Mount Lofty Ranges are completely under a fire ban due to an extremely high fire hazard rating.