Daily London
The fire, burning since Sunday, remained out of control overnight.
Cass and Ash Edwards felt the full ferocity of the fire as the couple fought to save their isolated home in dense bushland.
Eventually they were forced to give up their battle to save their lives.
“After trying to defend their property for two-and-a-half days really, running on basically no sleep, we believe the fire came through yesterday afternoon and they had to evacuate last minute,” sister Natasha Hunt said.
They returned late today to witness the ruins.
The blaze has already destroyed at least three structures and came dangerously close to others.
As strong and erratic winds pushed the blaze closer towards Cape Jervis, flames came right up to Rhys Jones’ doorstep.
“I looked up here and I saw the flames engulfing my property,” Jones told 9News.
“We had about seven water drops from helicopters and that made a major difference and was instrumental in saving the property.”
Some became trapped on the tip of the peninsula, as roads were blocked off, deemed too dangerous to travel.
“It’s hard when everyone’s so frantic you know and you can’t get out,” Leon Cooper, who works at the local caravan park, told 9News.
“You know it’s – the only place to go is down to the water.”
Residents evacuated from the small town of Silverton are now facing a nervous wait as they remain cut off from their properties.
“Hopefully in the next 24 hours we’ll have a chance to get down and actually inspect the place,” resident Greg Mackie told 9News.
About 300 firefighters and a fleet of aircraft have been battling the fire but the flames are still raging in bushland adjacent to the Deep Creek Conservation Park, which overlooks Kangaroo Island, where ferry services were impacted this week before partially re-opening today.
Steep terrain and dense vegetation is making the firefight a massive challenge, along with shifting winds and summer elements.
“We have seen due to the extraordinary dry conditions the fire flare up overnight when we’d usually expect it to go to ground,” Brenton Hastie from the SA Country Fire Service (CFS) said.
“So the conditions remain challenging through day and night and the community needs to be aware.”
Crews are flying in from Victoria and New South Wales to join a battle expected to last for days.
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