Police close in on Pinery cause

While an official cause is yet to be determined, SAPOL Major Crime Investigation Branch leader Detective Superintendent Des Bray said a paddock on the corner of Plains Road and Port Lorne Road had been identified as the the point of origin.

“We are not certain of the cause of the fire, but we believe it started in close proximity to an electric fence where there was a battery,” Det-Supt Bray said. “The battery is not connected to the electric fence, but the battery is in very close proximity to the point of origin of the fire.

“We’ve seized the battery and that’s undergoing forensic testing, so we’re a little way off knowing the cause.”

He said there was no evidence to suggest the fire was suspicious at this stage, and nothing to suggest there was “any blame to be attached to any organisation or individual in terms of the cause”.

A fire behaviour expert has visited the fireground, and is working with investigators to develop a “complete understanding” of what happened to prevent future events and improve fire response tactics.

Task Force Pinery officers will establish an investigation centre at the Mallala Football Club between 11am and 9pm today (Thursday).

Det-Supt Bray appealed for information from local farm firefighting teams who tried to extinguish the blaze not long after it started.

“We are hoping to be able to identify more accurately the time, and how the fire progressed from that location,” Det-Supt Bray said.

“Also near that location, a fence was cut, and we think it was most likely done to allow access for firefighters, but we want to know who those people are because their identity and the information they can provide us is very important.

“We also want to identify people who were injured by the fire who may have received treatment somewhere on the fireground or in towns afterward, because where those people were and when, and what they saw will be particularly relevant to us.”