<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A sweltering Christmas will bring an extreme bushfire first for parts of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/south-australia" rel="" target="" title=" South Australia."><span>South Australia.</span></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Adelaide is forecast to have the hottest Christmas Day for eight years, with temperatures of 37 degrees forecast.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Parts of the state's south, meanwhile, are expected to nudge 40 degrees.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/warnings/incidents-warnings/" rel="" target="" title="FOR THE LATEST BUSHFIRE WARNINGS VISIT THE SA COUNTY FIRE SERVICE PAGE"><strong><span>FOR THE LATEST BUSHFIRE WARNINGS VISIT THE SA COUNTY FIRE SERVICE PAGE</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Increasing winds on Boxing Day will elevate the fire risk, with gusts of between 50 and 80km/h predicted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said the weather on Christmas Day will be a "belter".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's going to be 37 degrees and hot in the evening," he said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/bushfires-south-australia-warning-christmas-hot-weather/c32bf6a1-85f0-473b-b616-bb66fdac91b0" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That does, of course, elevate the bushfire risk."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Mount Lofty Ranges and west coast of the state will be under total fire bans.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Locals have been warned not to take risks, with the state seeing some of the driest weather for years.</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2024/01/03/13/26/weather-news-pictures-2024-australia"><img alt="" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/As7AaZ6HKKqmCY38NOKyK0-nWIw=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F6b43121d-f28b-4998-bdb8-fd4d0144191b" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/As7AaZ6HKKqmCY38NOKyK0-nWIw=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F6b43121d-f28b-4998-bdb8-fd4d0144191b 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/_3OM1QdwJRq5Qtmx_4zxn9L2s4w=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F6b43121d-f28b-4998-bdb8-fd4d0144191b 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">'Intense few days' as keepers care for zoo animals near fire zone</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2024/01/03/13/26/weather-news-pictures-2024-australia">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"For both Christmas Day and Boxing Day at the very time that a lot of people around our state will be relaxing there will be others on high alert desperately hoping their pager doesn't go off to respond to a fire that has been caused unnecessarily," Malinauskas said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Country Fire Authority President Brett Loughlin warned anyone who gets new power tools for Christmas not to go tinkering with them in the garden while the fire danger is high.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Any fires that start will spread rapidly," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>John Fisher from the Bureau of Meteorology warned of a "short-lived burst of heat" ahead of a windy Boxing Day.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/police-officer-dressed-as-grinch-leads-drug-bust-in-peru/7e2bcf97-743a-4e93-b516-3bb0ddf5a9e7"><strong><span>Officer dressed as the Grinch makes drug bust in Peru</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That is elevating the fire danger rating throughout the state," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Malinauskas also urged people to check on their neighbours during the Christmas heat.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The warning in South Australia comes as </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-bushfires-boxing-day-warning-evacuated-residents-given-chance-to-return-home-emergencies-news/ae1b88fd-c327-4ea1-a4f4-3267d8e63cc6" rel="" target="" title="Victoria is also bracing for potentially &quot;catastrophic' fire conditions"><span>Victoria is also bracing for potentially "catastrophic' fire conditions</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Fire may have been deliberately started</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Loughlin said he was "sick to the stomach" to hear a fire south of Adelaide yesterday was being probed as suspicious by SA Police.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Malinauskas said the fire on Education Rd in Onkaparinga was "benign" but served as a warning about the "precarious" conditions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Four volunteers suffered minor injuries while fighting the blaze, including from falling trees, but no properties were lost.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Even relatively basic fires can have severe consequences," Malinauskas said.</span></div></div>