2015 Sampson Flat bushfires
| 2015 Sampson Flat bushfires | |
|---|---|
A plume of smoke emerging from the Adelaide Hills region during the bushfires, 2 January 2015. The Adelaide city centre is the cluster of buildings visible centre right.
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| Location | Southern Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia, Australia |
| Statistics | |
| Cost | A$13 million |
| Date(s) | 2 January 2015 – 9 January 2015 |
| Burned area | more than 20,000 hectares (49,000 acres) |
| Land use |
|
| Buildings destroyed |
27 houses; 140 outbuildings |
| Injuries | 134 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
The 2015 Sampson Flat bushfires were a series of bushfires in Australia in the state of South Australia, that primarily affected the Adelaide region, predominantly the Adelaide Hills and the outer Adelaide metropolitan area. The fires began on 2 January 2015 during a day of extreme heat and lasted until 9 January 2015.
The fires began in the outer northern area of the city, in the suburb of Sampson Flat. It later travelled southeast towards the Kersbrook township and across the Mount Lofty Ranges toward the Adelaide Hills. As of 6 January 2015[update], at least 26 houses were destroyed with 37 families in temporary accommodation. This count had increased to 38 houses, 125 outbuildings and 134 injuries by the evening of 6 January. The town of Kersbrook was worst hit, with twelve houses destroyed. On 7 January, the number of houses destroyed throughout the affected area was revised down from 38 to 32 and again down to 27 a few days later. There were no fatalities as a result of the bushfires; and the total cost was estimated to be more than A$13 million.
At the same time, a smaller fire threat was posed near Tantanoola and Glencoe in the Limestone Coast region on 2 January 2015.
2014 was Australia's sixth-warmest year since national temperature observations commenced in 1910. Following Australia's warmest year on record in 2013, both maximum and minimum temperatures remained well above average, with frequent periods of abnormally warm weather throughout the year. For the 6-month period from July to December 2014 southeast South Australia recorded the lowest 5 per cent record of rainfall deficiencies, extending a continued pattern of severe rainfall deficiencies over a 27-month period.
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