Bush pilot Dick Lang and son Clayton killed in the catastrophic Kangaroo Island bushfire
All Kangaroo Island locals have been accounted for by local emergency services following the catastrophic bushfire that claimed the life of Australian bush pilot Dick Lang, and his son, Dr Clayton Lang.
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Acclaimed Australian bush pilot “Desert” Dick Lang, and his son Clayton, have been killed in the catastrophic bushfire that scorched more than 150,000 hectares on Kangaroo Island.
SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams confirmed two deaths during a media conference in Adelaide on Saturday morning.
A CFS crew discovered the body of one person in a burnt-out car on the Playford Highway at Gosse, and a second body was also found nearby.
It was confirmed on Sunday morning that all Kangaroo Island residents are accounted for.
The CFS downgraded the Watch and Act across the western side of the island to an advice message — but urged locals to remain vigilant as the fire remained uncontrolled in parts of the area.
Roads outside the burnt area are now being reopened, but the CFS warns of roaming animals and smoke.
KANGAROO ISLAND ROAD CLOSURE UPDATE
— Country Fire Service (@CFSAlerts) January 5, 2020
Roads outside of the burnt areas are now being reopened. Take care in the area, there may be roaming livestock, wildlife and conditions are smoky.
For information on road closures visit https://t.co/zSrbpuasT6. pic.twitter.com/9x7PqsWfdg
The roads in green are only open to residents, relief/recovery services and media.
Crews are responding to multiple spot fires, east of the fire edge and around the Stokes Bay area.
In unrelated fire news, the Eyre Highway is also closed to all traffic at the SA/WA border due to fire risk and road damage.
SA Power Networks reported extensive damage to their infrastructure after the KI fires, with no estimate of restoration time.
Customers can sign up for SMS/email updates on power restoration at bit.ly/SMSservice.
In a statement, the Lang family said Dick and Clayton were returning to the family property on Kangaroo Island after fighting a nearby fire for two days.
“We are devastated to have lost two beloved members of our family - Dick Lang and his youngest son Clayton Lang - in such terrible circumstances,” it read.
“‘Desert Dick’ Lang, 78, was a pioneering bush pilot and safari operator who opened up the outback to countless travellers from Australia and overseas. He first offered 4WD adventures in 1965, later adding aircraft trips to all corners of Australia and other countries, from Papua New Guinea to Africa.
“Clayton, 43, was one of Adelaide’s leading plastic and reconstructive surgeons, specialising in hand surgery.”
“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the CFS volunteers, police and members of the Kangaroo Island community who are doing so much to help all those on the Island affected by these catastrophic fires.”
“I don’t want to make assumptions but I would say it’s linked to a vehicle that was discovered near Parndana.”
Premier Steven Marshall described the deaths as a tragedy.
“Our hearts go out to the family of those affected,” he said.
Mr Marshall said the fire had destroyed the majority of the Flinders Chase National Park in the southwest of the island — Australia’s third-largest.
“The fires that occurred (on Friday) were significantly worse than in 2007 in Flinders Chase because it took out all of the building infrastructure within this national park,” he said.
FOR LATEST BUSHFIRE ALERTS AND WARNINGS VISIT THE CFS WEBSITE
Mr Marshall said about 250 people were based at a recovery centre in Kingscote, where plans were being developed to help them leave the island.
He said there would be significant livestock and wildlife losses, with about 500 CFS, MFS and Environment Department firefighters and farm fighting units battling the blazes.
“Although the people there are very capable dealing with fires, they are very tired at the moment having battled fires on Kangaroo Island for two weeks,” Mr Marshall said.
“It’s clear that South Australia has had an extraordinarily difficult time since December 20 and there has been extensive damage right across our state.”
Country Fire Service chief officer Mark Jones said the blazes had “greatly abated” since Friday but still continued to burn out of control.
“We are very grateful to those people on the island who heeded our warnings (on Friday) and the day before and got themselves out of harm’s way,” Mr Jones said.
“The weather (on Saturday) should give our crews the opportunity to start to get on top although we expect that the fires will burn for some days.”
Areas including Flinders Chase, Vivonne Bay, Hansen Bay, Kelly Hill, Western River and Stokes Bay towards Parndana in the central area, Stokes Bay in the north and Seal Bay in the south continue to be affected.
About 170 firefighters and personnel are expected to fly into the island on Saturday to join the 350-strong crew on the ground.
FOR LATEST ALERTS OVERNIGHT VIST THE CFS WEBSITE HERE
Earlier on Friday, crews unsuccessfully battled to save the luxury Southern Ocean Lodge, where six senior staff sheltered in an emergency bunker after the resort was evacuated.
The resort’s owner, Baillie Lodges, reported the luxury accommodation had sustained significant damage from the bushfire and would be closed for the foreseeable future.
Baillie Lodges founders and co-creators of Southern Ocean Lodge, James and Hayley Baillie, said initial plans were already at hand to rebuild.
“We are absolutely shocked and saddened by today’s events,” Mr and Mrs Baillie said.
“A bushfire incident such as this is really our worst nightmare come true.”
The Flinders Chase Visitor Centre was also reportedly destroyed.
Residents on Kangaroo Island have been asked to limit their non-essential water consumption after the bushfires heavily damaged the Middle River Water Treatment Plant.
The damage to the treatment process at the facility has directly affected Kingscote, Parndana and surrounding areas.
It was estimated water supply for human consumption would last until Friday and SA Water are planning to install two smaller treatment facilities to get usable water from the Middle River dam to the community as a contingency plan.
While the Penneshaw Desalination Plant and supply network is operating normally, residents are asked to curb their water usage in case it is required to supplement Kingscote.
SA Water spokesman Mark Gobbie said while the water appeared dark coloured, it was safe to drink.
An unexpectedly strong change brought wind gusts reaching 55km/h around 8pm on Friday and pushed the blaze eastwards.
About 2.5mm rain fell about 4am on Saturday, bringing much needed relief, with 2-5mm showers expected for the rest of the day.
The townships of Kingscote and Penneshaw are considered areas of safety and a 24-hour relief centre has been established at the Kingscote Football Club.
Extensive road closures are in place to allow crews to move across the fireground and to ensure safety of the public. People are asked to avoid these areas as a significant threat remains across the fireground.
For information on road closures visit www.traffic.sa.gov.au.
Meanwhile, ferry operator SeaLink has urged the public to defer all non-essential travel.
Two vessels will continue to operate — with a total of 12 return trips on Saturday, but priority will be given to emergency services vehicles and personnel.
All passenger tickets to leave Kangaroo Island on Saturday have sold out.
SeaLink managing director Jeff Ellison told ABC Radio Adelaide there was “no problem with passenger space” but those with vehicles would have to wait until Sunday morning to leave the island.
The company said up to 300 people and 80 vehicles at the Kingscote relief centre require immediate passage to the mainland.
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary between the Flinders Chase and Kelly Hill national parks, which also provides cabin accommodation, was also hit by Friday’s bushfire.
The owner said many buildings were lost but it was too early to know the exact details.
All guests and most staff were evacuated early Friday while the sanctuary was shut to all visitors.
The sanctuary and the cabins will be closed until further notice.
On Friday, as conditions deteriorated further the fire danger area was expanded to cover the entire island.
The town of Parndana was evacuated with police declaring the major towns of Kingscote and Penneshaw as the only safe places on the island.
SA Power Networks advised the western part of the island would face extended outages as repair crews cannot enter the firegrounds until it was safe to do so.
Mr Jones said that he would be “astounded” if there were not homes lost in the fire.
There was an emergency warning message in place for the Ravine fire which has forced the evacuation of holiday parks and visitor centres.
The Ravine fire is predicted to burn for several days.
A second fire burning in Duncan in the centre of the island broke containment after 50km/h winds buffeted the fire ground.
The fire threatened the township of Parndana as well as rural properties. Resources were relocated from the Ravine fire to contain the fire.
Fishing trawler off the coast of #kangarooisland captures the apocalyptic vision of smoke clouds from the island #AustraliaOnFire #OSINT https://t.co/ZE8DaIL82o pic.twitter.com/go9h5uL76E
— Dr Richard Matthews â™»ï¸ðŸ›° (@rhematt) January 3, 2020
“Bushfire index predictions have greatly exceeded those predicted for today,” Mr Jones said.
“These conditions caused the Duncan fire to break containment and head in an easterly direction.
“Thankfully aerial bombardment and hard work from our fire fighters on the ground have got that fire contained.
“We will get as many resources over there as we can bearing in mind we have several other fires burning.
“It is pleasing that resources on the ground are having a good impact but the conditions as well as the severity and size of the fire means that the fire is virtually unstoppable at the current time.”
Smoke from the Kangaroo Island fires and windy and dusty conditions in the state’s Far North will likely bring reduced air quality in part off South Australia on Saturday, SA Health warns.
If you are currently on Kangaroo Island, Bushfire Safer Places for you are in Kingscote and Penneshaw.https://t.co/wHVO5lxyYp pic.twitter.com/vOD9BX04j5
— CFS Talk (@CFSTalk) January 3, 2020
Ahead of visiting areas damaged by Cudlee Creek bushfire in the Adelaide Hill, Labor leader Anthony Albanese expressed condolences to the loved ones of the two people who died on Kangaroo Island.
“It is horrific for the family and friends of those two people but for that community as well,” he said.
The federal Opposition Leader jetted into Adelaide as part of a national trip to bushfire bushfire-affected regions.
He reiterated his call for a national response to the bushfire crisis with the possibility of requesting aerial firefighting fleet from overseas to assist.
“We need to make sure that every request is met with a ‘yes’, this isn’t the time to count pennies, this is the time to make sure that people are getting all the assistance that they need,” he said.
Mr Albanese refused to be drawn into Scott Morrison’s visit to Cobargo, New South Wales, but said “the footage speaks for itself”.
“My concern isn’t Scott Morrison, my concern is for those people whose lives are in danger today, and the communities who are suffering,” he said.
Humanihut chairman Kevin Scarce said a 128-bed pop up base camp has been on Kangaroo Island to support emergency services who had been putting out bushfires since two weeks ago, and the facilities would stay for as long as required.
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Meanwhile BlazeAid support has been delayed after their base Western District Sports Club was gutted in the bushfire.
Coordinator Kevin Butler said they were holding off equipment on the mainland until a new base is set up, where it would likely be at Parndana.
Mr Jones said 412 CFS personnel were in the field battling 25 fires across the state.
Meanwhile, CFS units tackled a hay fire south of Mount Torrens, after strong winds caused a flare-up of the Cudlee Creek fire.
The fire on Onkaparinga Valley Rd caused large amounts of smoke to be visible over the area.
