BlazeAid volunteers arrive to fix burnt fences on Kangaroo Island
Dozens of volunteers have descended on Kangaroo Island to start repairing farm fences destroyed in the fires which have wreaked havoc on the island.
SA News
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Hundreds of people from across the world have offered to help repair farm fences destroyed by huge fires on Kangaroo Island.
Volunteer organisation BlazeAid is opening a base camp this weekend at the Parndana Football Club.
The Kangaroo Island Council held a special meeting on January 6 to approve spending $5000 to help establish the camp, where volunteers will eat and sleep while working to repair thousands of kilometres of ruined fences.
An advance party has spent the past 10 days surveying damage and beginning to help farmers who have euthanised thousands of sheep and cows injured in two fires which have struck the island since December 20.
BlazeAid co-ordinators Greg and Ann Stevens will oversee sending volunteers to work in groups on numerous properties on the northern, western and southern parts of the island which have suffered severe damage.
Mr Stevens, 67, a retired PIRSA veterinarian, and Mrs Stevens, 60, a registered nurse, expect to spend at least six months at Parndana co-ordinating the mammoth task.
Mr Stevens said they had been inundated by offers of help since moving from their Adelaide home to Kangaroo Island with their caravan last week.
“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of enquiries from all over the world,” he said.
“We’ve been run off our feet with dealing with phone calls, text messages and emails.”
Mr Stevens said 21 volunteers already were in the field, with a further 50 expected to arrive over the weekend.
Asked how many kilometres of fencing needed to be repaired, Mr Stevens said: “I have no idea.”
“It has to be thousands of kilometres,” he said.
“There is at least 500 kilometres of boundary fencing alone.”
Replacing fences is a priority for the island’s farmers who have been forced to kill most of their injured livestock.
Tens of thousands of dead sheep and cows have been buried in huge holes dug by farmers, many with the help of the Australian Army.
The farmers cannot restock their properties, many of which have scorched paddocks, without fences.
BlazeAid already has spent the past three weeks helping farmers in the Adelaide Hills who lost fences in the recent Cudlee Creek fire.
Mr Stevens said he and his wife had been at Edithburgh, on Yorke Peninsula, fixing fences destroyed in another fire before they offered to co-ordinate the BlazeAid project on Kangaroo Island.
BlazeAid has helped over 3870 properties across Australia hit by natural disasters such as fires and floods since it was established in 2016.
It provides protective clothing and equipment to volunteers, who are provided with food by community groups.
Kangaroo Island farmers who need help replacing fences can register at blazeaid.kangarooisland@gmail.com.