Fire threat forces closure of South Australian schools

With new heatwave conditions arriving in southeast Australia, South Australian (SA) fire department has declared fire bans across the state, forcing 11 schools to be closed on Tuesday.

Among the 11 schools, nine are in the state's Lower South East region, which has a catastrophic fire danger rating for Tuesday, while the rest two primary schools will be closed due to an extreme risk.

Tuesday is the day most children are returning to school after the Australian Day holidays.

SA Country Fire Service (CFS) said the weather conditions could not be worse, as the state faced its second heatwave this month.

"We are facing a horror day when we already have existing fires burning in the state," state coordinator Brenton Eden said.

Firefighting operations are continuing at Bangor in the Southern Flinders Ranges and at Billiatt in the Riverland.

Back-burning was undertaken overnight at both fires to consolidate control lines, while weather conditions were favorable.

The Bangor fire continues to burn through scrub within inaccessible terrain, making access difficult for firefighters as they actively patrol the perimeter of the fire.

As weather conditions are expected to worsen over the coming days, the CFS said the fire behaviour on the Bangor and Billiatt firegrounds will intensify, posing additional challenges for firefighters.

State capital Adelaide's temperature is expected to reach 41 degree Celsius on Tuesday.