Two men are behind bars after being charged over a fire in Adelaide’s north.
Police allege their angle grinder started the blaze, which ripped through multiple properties in Penfield and sparked a major emergency response.
Colin Jones was taken away with smoke inhalation when fire ripped through his Womma Road property yesterday afternoon.
“There goes our life. Property, gone. House, vehicles. Work for years and years and years all up in flames,” he said.
Paddocks were charred and priceless military memorabilia destroyed despite Jones’ best efforts to protect it.
“I couldn’t see any more than about three feet in front of me. I couldn’t breathe. Threw the hose down and had to just evacuate as quickly as possible,” he said.
“I’m sure it didn’t mean to be disastrous as it is but a small decision can have an impact on so many.”
He thanked the efforts of firefighters to salvage his home and sheds.
The blaze started in his neighbour’s paddock and was thought to have been sparked by an angle grinder and driven by 35-degree heat and dry, northerly winds.
Less than a kilometre from Colin’s property is a village where 200 elderly residents were on high alert.
Crime scene investigators and the Country Fire Service returned today after two 31-year-old men were arrested and charged with being recklessly indifferent to causing a bushfire.
They front court tomorrow.
