Kangaroo Island can finally catch its breath. But South Australia's bushfire danger period still has a long way to go, and the state will ask the Federal Government for more firefighting support.
The State Government is calling on its federal counterparts to provide extra firebombing aircraft to help battle the Kangaroo Island bushfires.
South Australians should continue to support fire-ravaged Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills, civic leaders urge, as the latest devastation of a horror bushfire season emerges.
Kangaroo Island residents yesterday returned to their homes in Vivonne Bay and Parndana after a second major fire in less than a week.More than 215,000ha – almost half of the island – has been scorched since December 20 last year.
“At this difficult time, we’re encouraging South Australians to continue to dig deep and donate what they can to the SA Bushfire Appeal, to help their fellow South Australians rebuild in the weeks, months and years ahead,” Premier Steven Marshall said.
Mr Marshall said there had been an overwhelming outpouring of support of $3.5 million to its bushfire relief fund, with every dollar raised going directly to families and communities who needed it most.
“We have all been shocked and saddened by the scale of destruction on Kangaroo Island, coming on top of the devastating losses in the Adelaide Hills,” he said.
“Not only has there been tragic loss of life, families have lost homes and properties, people have lost businesses, vineyards, livestock and – for some – their livelihoods.”
His pleas were backed by Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly, who said “rebuilding is what we’ve got to do”.
“When we get everything put to bed here, we hope people come,” he said.“Kangaroo Island is still a beautiful place – there’s still plenty to do.”Mr Pengilly said next month’s Kangaroo Island Cup racing carnival – a huge hit with interstate and overseas travellers – would go ahead despite the fires.
Country Fire Service volunteers are tirelessly working to extinguish the Ravine blaze, which last night was downgraded to an advice message.
More than 60 homes have been destroyed and at least 10 other buildings have been significantly damaged.
SA Power Networks crews will today attempt to enter the fireground, with more than 900 people still without electricity.
SA Water technicians will continue work to repair the badly damaged Middle River Water Treatment Plant.
The State Government is calling on its federal counterparts to provide extra firebombing aircraft to help battle the island’s bushfires.Authorities have praised the work of firefighters on the ground and the resilience of the communities under threat.
Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard said SA would be appealing to the Federal Government for further aerial support to tackle the inferno.
“We have had outstanding results from the increased fixed-wing capability after we brought nine extra aircraft into our fleet last summer and having loan of the large aerial tanker from NSW has also helped out already this summer,” he said.
“We know aerial coverage to dump big payloads of retardant or water, combined with our outstanding troops on the ground, are key to fighting big fires like we’ve seen on Kangaroo Island and in the Adelaide Hills.”
CFS chief officer Mark Jones said there were no missing people but some firefighters were injured in the blaze.“Two further CFS trucks were damaged … during firefighting operations,” he said.
“Two further firefighters sustained minor injuries too, bringing the total to 22 firefighters injured in the Kangaroo Island fires.”He said SA was dealing with an unprecedented bushfire season and praised firefighters and communities for their efforts.
“The state has been remarkably lucky that more people haven’t been killed or injured in what has been the worst season we’ve endured in living memory,” he said.
THIS CONCLUDES OUR LIVE COVERAGE FOR TODAY
Thanks for joining us today as we covered the fires on Kangaroo Island.
This concludes our live coverage – for the latest updates, visit Advertiser.com.au or check the CFS website for the latest warnings and incidents.
A koala crosses the road in Vivonne Bay on Friday. Picture: Brad Fleet
A new fire perimeter map shows how much land the bushfires have burnt on Kangaroo Island.
About two thirds of the island has been burnt – the official figure is currently 171,000ha, but this could change.
The black lines show what has been burnt, in the first fires a week ago at the western end, while everything left of the blue line in the middle burnt this week.
You can explore the map here: http://bit.ly/2Nedo37
Vivonne Bay resident Rick Slager evacuated on Wednesday night as conditions worsening.
He decided to return early on Thursday morning to help fight the fire as it raged near his home.
“I don’t think anyone on the island has seen a fire like this,” he said.
“There was no stopping it, we just kept falling back and falling back.”
Many beach shacks and houses at Vivonne Been have been destroyed, with SeaLink's Vivonne Bay Lodge reduced to a burnt, twisted shell of metal.
– Gabriel Polychronis
Rick Slager inspects the fire damage on Friday. Picture: Brad Fleet
Kangaroo Island’s popular wildlife park has survived a horrific night in hellish conditions as it was threatened by bushfires raging from several directions.
Sam Mitchell, who owns and runs the park, stayed with four other people to defend his property and animals including many koalas that had been brought in injured from fires that have been burning for more than two weeks.
“We could see the flames, it was glowing and the wind was blowing at us pretty hard,” Mr Mitchell said.
“The first threat was coming from the northeast and then the wind swung around from the southwest and those fires starting heading at us.”
Mr Mitchell had sent his wife and young child to safety but he wanted to stay if there was any chance of saving the park.
“We’ve probably got 800 animals here, I couldn’t sit there and watch those guys burn,” he said.
“Whether we could stop it or not, I wasn’t sure, but we were certainly giving it our best.”
As the fire threat passed, a team of volunteer vets, including some from the defence force, descended on the park, mainly to triage and care for wounded koalas.
More than 100 of the animals have been brought into the facility, most suffering from burns but some are also malnourished after their source of food was destroyed.
Army vet Garnett Hall, said given the estimates that the western half of Kangaroo Island was home to about 25,000 koalas, only a very small number had survived the fire.
Captain Hall said a further problem for the ones that did make it through the blaze, was the extensive loss of habitat.
Volunteer Phoebe Jones helps treat a koala at the wildlife park on Friday. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz
Another koala is treated at the park, after it survived last night's fire. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz
The enormity of the bushfire near Parndana is captured in this stark image by Trent Dawson. Instagram: @tmanadventure
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Matt Collopy said there were two wind changes overnight.
“That secondary change did bring with it a cooler and more humid airstream from southerly direction – good news for fire -danger conditions,” he said.
Mr Collopy said between 2mm-5mm of rain had fallen across KI in recent hours and about another 2mm was expected to fall later today.
“So that is good news that we’ve seen those more humid conditions, cooler southerly winds as well as that little bit of rain,” he said.
“That rain will clear away but we’ll be left with over the coming days is a south to southeasterly airstream that continues those mild conditions with high humidities and lower fire dangers.”
– Elizabeth Henson
The fire reached right to the ocean at Vivonne Bay. Picture: Brad Fleet
The CFS says the situation on Kangaroo Island has stabilised, allowing it to concentrate on extinguishing the fire as the weather heats up again early next week.
Work is beginning to assess damage to critical infrastructure and restoring power, water, phones and other services, which is thought will take a couple of weeks.
The CFS has asked people to minimise to travel to Kangaroo Island while the work is being done.
"People travelling to the island to support family and friends, deliver freight and services, and maintain community function are most welcome," Incident Controller Ian Tanner said.
"Travel to the island is being prioritised and preference is being given to emergency services, agencies and organisations working to restore normal community routine as the highest priority."
For information on bushfires check the CFS website http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au or phone the Bushfire Information Hotline on 1800 362 361.
SeaLink says its Vivonne Bay Lodge has been significantly damaged in the Kangaroo Island bushfires.
The Lodge had been safely evacuated.
The company will be forced to wait until it's safe to enter the fireground before they can assess the full extent of the damage.
The lodge provided accommodation and meals on KI's southern coastline for tour guests and visitors.
SeaLink said it was committed to rebuilding the lodge as soon as it was safe to do so.
Firefighters faced one of their most challenging nights overnight on Kangaroo Island, the CFS says.
And the State Government is calling on its federal counterparts to provide extra firebombing aircraft to help battle the Kangaroo Island bushfires.
So far the devastating blaze has scorched 171,000ha of land on the island, as authorities praise the work of firefighters on the ground and the resilience of the communities under threat.
Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard this morning said SA would appeal to the Federal Government for more aerial support to tackle the inferno.
“I have tasked the SAFECOM chief to enquire with the Federal Government and start pushing for more aerial support for Kangaroo Island…so that we can add to the resources that we already have,” he said.
CFS chief officer Mark Jones said 280 personnel – including 230 CFS volunteers – were fighting the fire on the island.
A further 55 were expected to join them today.
Mr Jones said firefighting efforts were challenged by tricky weather conditions overnight.
Blackened ground, looking west from Vivonne Bay. Picture: Tim Lawson @tmanadventure.
“We’ve heard that last night was an incredibly difficult night with which to firefight on Kangaroo Island – winds were not consistent, they were blustery and came from many directions…creating difficult conditions,” he said.
Mr Jones said the SeaLink ferry closure was currently under review and would likely reopen in the next hour or so.
He said there were no reports of missing people but more firefighters had been injured overnight.
“There have been a series of (fire) trucks which have been damaged by fires and we have endured a number of burnovers,” Mr Jones said.
“Two further CFS trucks were damaged last night during firefighting operations.
“Two further firefighters sustained minor injuries too, bringing the total to 22 firefighters injured in the Kangaroo Island fires.
“Thankfully these are mostly minor injuries and to their credit most of the firefighters returned to their duties with no delay.”
Mr Jones said the state was dealing with an unprecedented bushfire season and praised firefighters and communities for their efforts.
“The state has been remarkably lucky that more people haven’t been killed or injured in what has been the worst season we’ve endured in living memory,” he said.
“I’d like to think it’s a combination of lucky but luck is what happens when preparation meets adversity and our people have trained well, they’ve prepared well, they’ve got great safety equipment…and an endless enthusiasm to fight these fires and to protect… the people in this state.”
– Elizabeth Henson