CANBERRA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- An emergency warning has been issued and a school was evacuated over a bushfire burning in South Australia (SA) on Thursday, local official said.
The Country Fire Service (CFS) on Thursday afternoon declared a grass fire near the city of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula poses a threat to lives and homes.
People in the area have been urged to take shelter immediately in a solid building and a primary school has been evacuated.
"It is too late to leave as the roads will not be safe," the emergency message said.
Temperatures were forecast to hit 40 degrees Celsius in SA on Thursday, with strong winds exacerbating conditions.
Road closures have been put in place by SA Police and six firefighting aircraft have been deployed to the region.
Motorists have been warned to keep their windows closed and take care due to smoke.
"It is a fire burning with a really high level of intensity, producing lots of smoke that will be visible to people in Port Lincoln and the surrounds," Brenton Hastie, CFS deputy state controller, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
"At this stage the fire has continued through the industrial area, which is of a concern in terms of the number of assets that may have been lost, but we haven't seen that impact into the suburb areas of Port Lincoln as yet."
