Matt Young (Excerpted from News.com.au)
A “shocked and saddened” South Australian government is asking Scott Morrison for extra water bombing aircraft to tackle fire-ravaged Kangaroo Island.
CFS chief officer Mark Jones declared the fires which have destroyed almost half the island, as well as the Adelaide Hills blazes, to be the state’s “worst season in living memory”.
“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,” SA Premier Steven Marshall said.
“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.
Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard said SA would be appealing to the Federal Government for further aerial support to tackle the inferno.
A bushfire damaged car (above) by the Playford Highway west of Parndana, Kangaroo Island
“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.”
The fires on Kangaroo Island have taken two lives and burnt more than 155,000 hectares, destroying at least 56 homes since starting on January 4.
An injured koala is treated at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Zoo on Friday.
CFS chief officer Mark Jones 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
Premier Marshall said constituents had dug deep and contributed $3.5m to the SA Bushfire Appeal and he encouraged them to keep on doing so.
Rotarians and others can help with the fire disaster in Australia, donate here: https://donations.rawcs.com.au/68-2019-20