'Catastrophic' fire alerts in Australia
![The bushfire season has had an early start in southern and eastern Australia. [ABC]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200912/r488306_2521852.jpg "The bushfire season has had an early start in southern and eastern Australia. [ABC]")
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The bushfire season has had an early start in southern and eastern Australia. [ABC]
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A new bushfire rating system got under way in southern Australia on Wednesday - with "catastrophic" fire danger ratings issued for eight districts in the state of South Australia.
They stretch from the Western Australian border to Victoria state.
The Country Fire Service is trying to reduce confusion about the new warning system by issuing lists of towns and suburbs that are safer than others in a bushfire.
A zoo on the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges outside Adelaide has been closed and an Adelaide Hills Council has cancelled waste collection and closed a library for the day.
Senior duty forecaster Belinda Gibson says temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees around most of her state.
"We are forecasting some significant winds as well - we're forecasting fresh, strong northerly winds across most of the state," she said.
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