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Ray Mears

Ian Larcombe surveys the wreckage of his soldier settler home, destroyed in the fire. Describing the evening of the fire, he says: “And then it went pitch black, and the embers were coming, and we thought, ‘we’d better get out’... later, I was told we had had about five minutes to spare."

The shearers work in silence; more than half their flock perished in the fire. With the shearing shed having burned to the ground, the shearing is conducted on a ‘jury-rigged’ shearing platform using salvaged equipment, based in the one barn that survived. The fleeces are soiled with soot and dust, forcing the shearers to change the blunt blades of their shears every two fleeces instead of every five. It’s hard work for the men who have lost their homes, and an uncomfortable clipping for the livestock. A final ignominy is that the merino wool fleece is devalued by the need to be washed of the soot and topsoil that now taints it. Bede Larcombe (left) supports the shearers, his face is blackened with soot from stacking the smoke-tainted merino sheep fleeces.

These trees were burned in a bushfire a year earlier and so offer a window onto the future, when the scorched trees of the island will be re-foliated with epicormic growth.

Mike Greig, NPWSSA Kangaroo Island parks and wildlife manager, faces the challenge of clearing up after the fires and shaping the future of Flinders Chase National Park. It’s a monumental task that will require the support and cooperation of biologists and local residents alike. Sitting at ‘Remarkable Rocks’, Mike recalls that the spot holds a remarkable secret — the rocks are a natural fire shelter. Normally a popular tourist attraction, during the fire they became a sanctuary for animals fleeing the flames.

Torren Wälz (left) and Karla Berris (right) inspect one of their glossy-black cockatoo nesting trees, brought down by the fire. The nest box lies crushed beneath it — although, fortunately, it wasn’t in use at the time. Initial indications suggest that very few of the birds fell victim to the fires.

A female western grey kangaroo. During the fires, residents found animals were flocking to little pockets of vegetation that hadn’t burnt, like life rafts.

Rangers and workmen begin to clear fallen trees in Flinders Chase National Park. The crews cheerfully tackle the huge task of shifting debris and making the park safe for reopening to the public.

A wallaby with burned feet shelters under a burned-out vehicle after the bush fires.

Yacca, also known as Tate's Grass Tree, grows very slowly — around 25mm per year — and is a classic feature of Kangaroo Island’s vegetation. It was once harvested for its valuable resin. A hollow stem of leaf bases protects aerial roots within from the scorching heat of the bush fires. Here, new growth already shows green among their scorched crowns. No one knows how many bushfires these trees may have already lived through in their long lives.

Torren Wälz (left), Karla Berris (centre) and Mike Barth (right) are some of the heroes of conservation. Prior to the bushfires, this team rescued the glossy-black cockatoo from the brink of extinction. Their concerted efforts have helped to ensure that the species was able to survive the impact of the bushfires.