Two people have died after a bushfire raged through South Australia’s Kangaroo Island as hundreds make their way to the ferry terminal to escape to the mainland.
SA Police said a forensic team is on its way to the scene, with the deaths initially thought linked to a burnt-out car found near Pardana.
There have been no other reports of people missing and no other injuries but three fire crews endured burn-overs in their trucks.
A watch and act warning remains in place for the fire which has now destroyed about 100,000 hectares including large parts of the Flinders Chase National Park.
The operators of the Sealink ferry service said up to 300 people were currently at a relief centre in Kingscote seeking passage to the mainland and it was working with authorities to get them on board as soon as possible.
It urged other people planning to travel to the island to defer their trip if it was not essential.
However, homes and other properties are feared lost and tourism infrastructure and hundreds of hectares of plantation forest has been damaged or destroyed.
The blaze broke out late last month and was burning within containment lines before extreme weather conditions on Friday allowed it to breach control lines, with the fire described as “virtually unstoppable” as it began to spread quickly.
At one stage the entire island was subject to either an emergency warning or a watch and act advice with only the towns of Kingscote and Peneshaw on the east coast considered safe places.
The luxury Southern Ocean Lodge on the west coast suffered structural damage but the owners said all guests were moved to Kingscote or Adelaide before the threat intensified.
Six staff stayed to monitor the situation and activate the facility’s emergency plan but all had since been accounted for and were uninjured.
The owners said the lodge would remain closed but plans were already underway to rebuild.
The entirety of Kangaroo Island on alert, thousands of hectares destroyed, homes undoubtedly lost, huge blow to tourism with Southern Ocean Lodge damaged. Can't even begin to think about the wildlife and koala population… Unbearable. #SAFires #AustraliaBurning #KIFires pic.twitter.com/6ySCwgDQ1s
— Matilda (@tilc9) January 3, 2020
Local MP Leon Bignell said it had been a long night for those on the island with people camped out on the Kingscote Oval and others taking shelter in a school gymnasium.
He said locals who fled the fire would be looking for information from authorities on when they might return to their properties.
“People over here are in shock, they’re scared, they’re frightened,” he told ABC radio on Saturday.
CFS regional commander Nick Stanley said fresh fire crews had been sent to Kangaroo Island and firefighting numbers would swell to about 500 over the weekend as efforts continued to bring the situation under control.
He said an aerial assessment of the fire ground would be conducted on Saturday.
Victorian death toll remains at two, with 21 missing
Twenty-one people are still missing in Victoria’s deadly bushfires raging in the state’s east that have already killed two men.
In a slight drop from the 28 people missing on Friday, authorities say there are now 21 people missing in the East Gippsland fire zone.
The fires have already killed Buchan man Mick Roberts and Maramingo Creek man Fred Becker.
The number of missing people is expected to fluctuate, Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton says.
Authorities are trying to get into 18 isolated communities in East Gippsland and the northeast where fires have been raging all week, but so far access has only been achieved at two.
Many fires in East Gippsalnd have already merged and the current risk is the 124,000-hectare fire in the northeast at Corryong merges with another fire in NSW.
Fires and evacuation orders are also in place across Victoria’s Alpine region.
“We have seen wind gusts up to 67 km/h already today [Saturday], up at Mount Hotham,” Mr Crisp said.
“It’s predicted when the change comes through we will see gusts up to 80 km/h.”
The wind change has already moved through Melbourne and was due to hit East Sale at 10am, Wangaratta about 1pm and Albury at 4pm.
“We have a long way to go today. Today is a very challenging day for all of us,” Mr Crisp said.
-with AAP
The post Two dead after bushfire on Kangaroo Island, 21 still missing in Vic appeared first on The New Daily.
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