All language subtitles for the.burnt.half.2022.1080p.web.h264-grashopr 25 EN

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)

SHANE QUIRK:
The thing is that people stayed.

You're not getting everyone out.

I mean, I know some of the people

that shouldn't have stayed,
civilians,

that you should just get out
when it's that big.

Your heart drops.

You find out people are in somewhere

and you know it's dangerous.

But, yeah,
you knew it was going to turn bad

because not everyone got out.

(WIND HOWLS)

(THUNDER CRASHES)

(FIRE CRACKLES)

Emergency warnings
are in place on Kangaroo Island,

with concerns
about two towns under threat.

The situation is still...

The bottom of flames burning across
the trees and you cannot breathe.

You're just going... (GASPS)

REPORTER: In a place called Ravine

there was an emergency warning
for that fire earlier on today.

(FIRE ROARS)

The entire island
is now under bushfire threat.

Pretty much the worst day
of your life, really.

Looking at a tsunami of fire
coming straight at you.

The moment
when I felt really scared

was when we were trapped
down at the beach.

And that's when
we stayed the night here

with tea towels as blankets
and all that.

Yeah, when she rolled through,
yeah, she's on for young and old.

It's a pretty traumatic experience.

Never really
want to go through it again.

(WIND WHOOSHES)

(BIRDS TWITTER)

So, this is the house
and four-wheeler that I got back here

before I went looking
for somewhere to shelter.

That didn't fare so well.

But it wouldn't sell for much
at the moment, would it?

Well, the worst moment, I suppose,
was trying to locate Jo,

know where she'd gone.

The kids had rung me,
so, they knew I couldn't find her.

Yeah, I guess that was as bad...

I was pretty nervous that I was
never going to get back to the house,

and if I'd been
another 10 minutes later,

that would have been a real issue.

But I had no idea where Jo was,

and I was aiming to get back
to try and do something with her.

So, we just physically
didn't have any time to do anything.

I mean, I knew from a bit after 7:00
we were goners.

I reckon by 8:30 we were in real
trouble. The fire was on the farm.

So, you know, you just can't prepare
with that amount of time.

It was horrendous.

Never seen anything like it
in my life.

And I've spent my life
as a CFS member,

deputy group officer for many years

and I fought many fires.

I don't think I've ever lost a house
in any fire I was running,

and yet this one came through and
took out 60-odd houses or whatever.

It's just right off the scale. Mm.

Yeah, of course I can remember
what it looked like. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, well, Jo did a bit of that
while I was out moving sheep,

so, we got out with the computer.

I think she actually got passports.

She forgot to get my wallet,
so, I didn't have any licences left.

Yeah, she got some stuff out.

She was pretty sensible, actually.

Got a, um...

..a blanket wet to cover herself in.

But she didn't have long either.

It came through here.
I came in from the other side.

The rams, unfortunately,
were here around the tennis court

and that's where I was trying
to get back in time to get them out,

but just run out of time.

If I'd gone out with them, I probably
wouldn't have got out myself, so...

Yep.

I had to leave them where they were.
Not one of them survived.

They wouldn't have had a hope
out there.

Mm.

(COOS)

You're a good old fella.

Didn't know if he has to be put down,

but hopefully in another three
or four days he'll be back to normal.

Eh?
(PANTS)

You're a good old dog.

The thing that was pretty sobering,

I woke up the next morning
after a couple of hours' sleep,

and I had a pair
of dirty work clothes on,

and that was about all I owned.

You know, that is really
quite a sobering thought. Um...

I'm living in other people's clothes
most of the time.

It just seems staggering
how much you haven't got

when you get in a situation
like this.

Yeah, 3 January was
a pretty interesting day, obviously.

It was our wedding anniversary,
in fact.

51st.

The day began
with patrolling hotspots

from the fire that had been affecting
us for...since 20 December.

And, in fact, during that day,
just after lunch,

we were nearly burnt out
from the north

with a fire running up at creek.

We tried to back-burn.

Got home at 6 o'clock
in the afternoon

thinking we'd been saved,

but the fire was raging down through
Flinders Chase, heading south.

And I knew we would be impacted
at some point,

but I thought two or three days.

So, that was up until
about 7 o'clock.

I got a message from a friend

who was advising me then

that 10 minutes it would be
on Rick Morris's place.

So, at that point we hit the panic
buttons and filled up gutters.

Then I headed off on a four-wheeler

to try and move sheep
out of the path of the fire.

I reckon when I left I had about
maybe 15, 20 metres of visibility,

and by the time I got back
after moving one mile

I had about two to three.

I really struggled
to find my way back to the house.

By the time I'd achieved that, there
were spot fires starting around me.

I dumped the four-wheeler,

got a couple of dogs in the front.

One wouldn't jump in the front.
He was on the back.

My wife was just leaving
with a vehicle

to go to the local airstrip
where they fight fires from

because I figured
that was a safe spot,

and we headed off for that.

And it was a confusion getting there
because we couldn't see the road.

We just kept running off
one side or the other.

And the last I saw of Jo

was she'd panicked

and didn't want to drive through
the roadside vegetation

and I saw her backing back.

By then
things were getting pretty hot

and I had to park up
and find the coolest spot I could.

And eventually the ute
was well alight,

and I bailed out of that
and went looking for Jo.

(WIND WHOOSHES)

BEN DAVIS: So, this was like...
We had a guest room

down the bottom of the house here.

That's the...

..was the en suite.

Got the kids' bikes here.

Yeah, that's probably
one of the hardest things

and I think for the kids
it was as well.

They, uh...

They just got new bikes.

And, so, then to see them like that,
yeah, that's pretty hard.

Um... Probably having a house
is what you miss the most.

You know, being able to sit on...
you know, sit on your couch at night

and, you know, watch the cricket,
watch football, like, all the...

..you know, just the little things
that you don't even think about,

you know, walking into the kitchen

and grabbing something
out of the fridge.

Both the kids' chairs.

That's all you can really see
left of their stuff.

So, that was a Christmas present.

Daughter's Christmas present.

So, she'd barely used it.

They'd been, you know... Some
of those things you don't even...

She didn't even get a chance to use
her Christmas present, and it's gone.

(EXHALES HEAVILY)

We were in this room
when the fire went through.

We can go to the bathroom
if we get stuck in this.

No, you don't go into a room
you can't get out of.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

You go to...

..down the back.
Stay away from the glass, mate.

We were in a full-glass room,
basically,

so, it's like being inside a tornado
that was on fire.

Fuckin' hell!

Don't worry, it's just the screen.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
Yeah.

(FIRE WHOOSHES)

It's a tough bloody pump,
I'll give it that.

Oh, wow.

(EXHALES HEAVILY)
You alright?

Yeah, I'll be looking on
that side... (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

What was that?
Agh... Don't worry about it.

I can't see a fucking thing.

I think you'll need
a new cubby house, Ben.

More than that, you're gonna need
a whole mob of sheep.

Oh, fuck.
Yeah. We're fucking...

(FIRE ROARS)

Shut the door behind you.

Yeah. Good plan.

Come on, you smoky bastard!

(CLATTERING)

Oh!

Grab it again.

Out here. Go. Fuck. Keep going.

(FIRE ROARS)

Can you work the pump?

Get back in! Back in!

Back in!

Yeah.

I mean, because I'd already lost
my ute, my brother had lost his ute,

both with the fire fighters
on the back.

So, then we were down to just
my dad's ute with the fire fighter,

and that had run out of water.

We'd sort of extinguished our fire
fighting capabilities at that stage.

So, we sort of had to abandon ship,
so to speak, on the house.

Grabbed a few things we could
and then left.

I mean, I grew up here,

spent the last 10 years
making it my place

and, you know, a family home,

and then...

..yeah, to walk away from that...

..it's pretty hard, so...

Yeah, I mean, it's still hard.

There's a...

There's a lot of hours at work.

It's a lot of time. A lot of money.

Back to zero.

So...

There was nearly a dream here.

It's, uh...

It's mostly been wiped out now.

Yeah, like...
This is the thing that amazes me.

See that? The windows have run down.

If we go in there and have a...

Look -
the actual shithouse has exploded.

Oh, this is fuckin'...

This is worth millions of dollars.

I didn't realise
garlic burnt so well.

There's 12 boxes of garlic here.

DIRECTOR: Roasted garlic?
Yeah!

Fucking completely rooted.

Potatoes to plant.

Fucked.

How many tonnes do you want?

Fuck.

It is just so bloody wrong.

It is so wrong.

We sold 750 tonnes of spuds here.

Well, there was...

There's five of us
on Kangaroo Island.

And we do 25% of Australia's seed.

There was over 100...
or probably closer to $200,000 worth

of tools and shit in there.

This is a Makita drill.

(LAUGHS)

Each one of these here
is worth 150...

Ooh, shit.

150 bucks each. Remi.

Ooh!

(GRUNTS)

Agh.

I've lost me shed...

..probably $1.5 million worth
of machines...

..my house and all the sheds,

Mum's house,

all the sheds.

The house has exploded.

Yeah, somewhere in here
is their wedding rings.

Yeah.

You know, the thing
I'm really pissed off about

is that we lost
all the history of our family.

Like, it's just...

You got all the photos

and all the stuff for the kids,

and...nothing left, mate.

Not a cracker.

(EXHALES HEAVILY)

Do you start up again or not?

DO you start up again?

That is a bloody good question.

(KIDS CHATTER)

(LAUGHTER, CHATTER)

Fantastic, just so I can touch base
and see where they're at.

So, we've got a hub further down

where we're collecting

lots of non-perishable food items,

and then we've got plenty of water

to be able to hand out.

Today is an exceptionally hot day,

and, so, we've been handing out
ample amounts of water,

and everyone's been loving it.

In through the back room here,

this is where
we have all of our tools.

So, we've got a lot of hand tools,
electrical equipment

and things to be able
to equip people with...

..to be able to get back onto their
properties and start doing things.

All through here

we've got lots of bedding and
sleeping bags and things like that.

So, we've had plenty of people
come in.

At the moment we've got
dozens of locals out there

in campervans, caravans,
people's sheds and things like that.

So, they're just living
with the bare necessities,

and whatever we can equip them with
has just been fantastic.

As a club, we purchased a washing
machine and a chest freezer.

So, we're now calling this back room
the laundry.

We've got our chest freezer
full of bread and frozen meat

to be able to send off
to the community as well.

We've got people coming in with Eskys
that we've provided them with

and little butane burners
or barbecues

where they can go home
and have a bit of a feed. It's good.

A lot of our donations come in

from a place
called Island Care in Kingscote,

where they're receiving donations
statewide.

We've almost been
a little bit overwhelmed

with all of these supplies,

but these will definitely
be sent out in care packages

as we make visits out to residents.

We'd been out on the front all day.

The day
the fire swept through Parndana

was a really, really big day for us.

And to kind of go home
and see the devastation

that the island was under
after that day

and to see it first hand so severe,

we just thought
we had to do something

and support the community
as much as we could.

So, we put together the caravan
and made sure it was good to go,

and decided we could use that
as an office

to be able
to start collecting paperwork.

This is not an official
emergency hub,

it's just something
that the community has put together

as a local initiative.

And the amount of people
we've helped...

Like, we're seeing a constant stream
of people throughout the day,

and then around dinnertime
we'll see people for a meal at night.

These people
aren't just coming in for a visit.

They're coming in
to pick up essential supplies.

I've seen people walk in that I know
have lost absolutely everything

and go, "Oh, no, no,

"I only need, like, a shovel

"and I'll stay for dinner
and I'll be right"...

..head off, get a few jobs done
and then come back again.

And I think just knowing this is here
for them has been amazing.

But to see people come in so torn
and so proud

is really quite heart-wrenching

to know that they have to,
you know...

..reached that point themselves
to ask for help,

which is a really hard thing to do.

We've got a few guys
that have been staying here,

actually, at the emergency hub

who have lost everything

and have loaded up their own vehicles

to go out and visit their mates

and take them supplies,

take them a few bags of feed
and some food and clothes

and just check up on them
and see how they're doing.

So, I've got myself and my three boys
and my partner living in here.

And basic is basic.
You don't need much to live.

We are being supplied
with water, food,

and all we need to do is make sure

that all of our other friends
have got shelter, water and food,

and that's all I'm focused on.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Yeah, I've done things
that I wouldn't normally do.

I've pushed myself further
than I normally would.

And coming here
was a place to feel safe, number one,

and have friends around.

And you read on the sheets
on the walls,

there's a lot of comfort
in community.

So, you need to talk to people,

especially
if you're not sleeping so well

and you're waking up with night
sweats and terrors that wake you.

Yeah. All the guys I talked to

had about three...probably three
different nights

of just sheer hell on earth,
is what you've been through,

so, you recount it in your head
and you wake up to it.

(KIDS CHATTER)

Yeah, that day just turned nasty.

And it was more about not fighting
the fire but looking after people.

People first
and then property, houses.

And...

Yeah, like I said, it's just
all a blur, running around and...

Like I said, we're a small crew
out here, so, that's...

We're all stretched.
(SIREN WAILS)

And then just work into the night,

a few hours' sleep
and get into it the next day.

We don't really leave the fire ground
until the job's done.

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)
Are you up Stokes Bay area at all?

There you go.

But you hear that, and
all your friends live down there,

so, that's the bit about this fire
is we know everybody.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

That's why I've been here every day

because these guys, they have to...

..when the flames pass their farm,

they have to go back and look
at fences, look at their livestock.

So, they're still doing this
and working the farm,

whereas I just live here,
so, I can come here,

I open up, cook breakfast...

..and I just have to worry
about how I'm paying my rent.

That's all I need to do.

(OVER RADIO) If you can't get out
with the front,

drop your side
and just leave your front open.

Just keep following us.

All good. Just keep following us.

But drop your curtains on the side
so only the driver in front is open.

Over.
You've got 200 metres to go. Over.

Some of these guys
have done up to 20 hours,

probably 19, 20 hours straight.

And if you're doing something
and it's being productive,

you don't just stop and go home.

Your adrenaline is running,
so, you can't sleep anyway.

So, even at the end of those shifts,

we'd sit down and have a beer
and talk about it.

And that's when...

You know, I live across the street
and I've slept on the floor here.

You just collapse in a heap
and get up and go to work.

You might get two hours,
if you're lucky. Broken sleep.

And...

So, really, we've been doing this
for a month flat-out.

It's not until this is all over

you're going to go,
"Wow. Now what do we do?"

Because we're still in it.

My mate lives down here.

We just sat on the same track

protecting his house.

After we did a 17-hour day
and then...or a 19-hour day,

and then went to bed
at 4:00 in the morning,

got up at 6:00,

and did 17 hours.

And I was sitting in his toilet,

and I could see smoke coming out
of the walls and off the floor.

And I went out and I said,
"I need a day off."

That was a week and a half
into all of this.

Yeah.

Oh, when you ask...

.."How's it going?"

you know, fucking hell, it's a blur.

That's WHY it's a blur.

Because you're not
going to go to sleep

when your mate's house is under fire.

It was the sheer intensity of the
fire and the fact that it happened...

People couldn't be in front of it
trying to do something with it.

Like, normally, a fire comes through

and there'd be
a bunch of farmers there

with their small units and they'd
make sure sheep were out the road.

Generally we can pull fires up.

You know, if it had been daylight
and planes could have been flying,

houses wouldn't have been lost.

I've heard it said
that it was blowing 140 kays.

Now, I've been out
in some pretty strong winds,

obviously, living on Kangaroo Island.

And you might curse them and
lose your hat, but you can stand up.

That night I was struggling
to stand up in some of them.

Basically went from the south coast
to the north coast

in maybe two hours.

And if you're trying to save
anything in front of that,

then you're kidding yourself.

In hindsight,
there was nothing I could have done.

You know, the ute was the safest spot
in the corner until it caught alight.

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

Once a park catches fire,
it's very hard to stop,

especially
if you have high fuel loads,

like we have in this area here.

You've got weather events
with strong winds, high temperatures.

You can't really stop a fire
anymore.

The reality is,

if you look at the analysis
of fire and the landscape

and the climate that we currently
have and the climate predictions,

the experts are really
all quite clear about it.

You can't really prevent this
with prescribed burning,

with cutting bigger patches out.

It will not change it.

You cannot stop fires
with the climate that we have.

When you're not allowed
to burn strategically

like we used to burn out
our creek lines and roadsides

and this sort of thing...

Now we're not allowed to do that.
We get fined.

Can be quite large fines if you are
seen to be doing anything like that.

So, we have sort of
got our hands tied.

And then the people in power

to do the so-called
reduction of fuel loads,

they do not carry it out.

There's a classic of this
with the park.

Flinders Chase Park itself,
for the past 30 years,

that has not had a proper break,
earth break, like it used to have.

When does it come about

that they'll listen
to local knowledge

and go from there?

You know, we haven't been able
to take sensible management

for managing native vegetation

for the last 30, 40 years.

This place was last burned
in about 1952, I reckon.

So, we had huge build-ups around here
and everywhere else in between,

and it just steamrolled through that.

We've just got to do something
with the landscape.

We just can't have
forestry and native vegetation

linked one to another.

It's exactly the same as the Chase.

It had gone through
and totally wiped the Chase.

That can't happen either. You're
going to have to have that broken up.

I mean, we've just wiped out,
you know...

..goodness knows
how many wildlife in this.

And that's not conservation.

Not at all.

Always been against bushfires.
They are...

They're not a necessary thing
when they're out of control.

They're OK if they're working for you
but not against you.

I've raised my family here,

and the main gist of all of this
is fairness for the community people.

And there's so much wrong I see
in all of this

through not being done the right way.

Legislated whichever way you go.
Red tape.

It's Australia-wide, but we cop it on
Kangaroo Island at a regular basis,

and people get hurt.

We need to see change.
And everyone promises change.

And I'm not
supposed to talk about things

because we're supposed to move on.

But, if you can't learn
by your mistakes,

what is the point of all this anyway?

BEN DAVIS: It's only 13 years ago
that all the national park burnt.

And here we are again. You know?

But this time it burnt properly

and then it burnt everyone.

You know, this time round
they let a fire start,

and then it was a bad day.

There is a bit of 'us and them',

and not just between farmers,

but in general
between governments, farmers,

different departments
have different views.

At the end of the day,
this park has always been here.

And, if you look
over the last 150 years or so,

there's been a lot of land clearing
here on Kangaroo Island,

and more and more, especially
after the Second World War.

We have inserted ourselves
into a landscape

that naturally
has got native vegetation,

so, we can't then turn around
and say, "That is the problem."

That's always a challenge.

You know, who's at fault?
What's at fault?

Do we simply want to get rid
of all the native vegetation

to make it clear, make it safe?

I don't think that's the answer.

BEN DAVIS: Just more frustration
of the system,

that you keep making the same mistake
and just you don't learn from it.

I mean, there's a lot of people
around that are quite angry.

They've got not much left
and got out just alive.

Yeah, and I'm pretty angry, really,

that this is the sort of loss
we suffered.

It didn't have to happen.

With good management from a lot of
people, this didn't have to happen.

We didn't have to bury 2,500 sheep.

We didn't have to go now and rebuild
all our sheds, houses, fences.

We lost all the fences.

There's always a fire risk.

Always has been, always will be.

But it doesn't have to be as bad
as this.

What am I most angry about?

National Parks and Wildfire Service.

They don't do anything.

Right?
They sit there, they make all...

They get paid all year.
They do not do their burn-offs.

Right?

They've done
one hell of a burn-off now.

Parks need to be burnt.

I mean, you drive around now
and you look

and everything's regrowing.

That's what it does.

It burns
and everything's reshooting

because that's what this scrub...
that's how it lives.

But it needs to be burnt

at a time
when it's not going to be a monster

that just keeps
rolling across people's places.

Frustration is there quite a bit
amongst some people

and other people just get on with it.

They know it is so complex.
You can't blame anyone.

These things just happen
and there's no easy solution.

(WIND WHOOSHES)

That's right.
The fire could have been put out...

By two people.
..two people,

..out, right out west...

By bulldozer and a grader.

..and would've saved save two lives
and over half of Kangaroo Island.

Good mate of ours, like, Skinny,

he had his bulldozer sitting there
and he's watching it.

He watched the lightning strike.

He was sitting there and he could
have moved in and stopped it.

The Parks wouldn't let him
go in there...
Couldn't go.

..'cause you can't damage
the park's, you know, vegetation.

So, he was sitting there
for eight hours.

And then they said,
"Oh, you can go in now."

It was too late.
And by then it was already too late.

When he first saw it, it would
have been the size of two utes.

He had to wait
for permission from National Parks.
We had to wait eight hours.

'Cause it was IN the park.

If it was on his own land he could
have just gone and done the scrub.

Could've been there in 15 minutes.
He could have driven in there
and pushed up around it,

pushed a break around it,
it would have all been done.

There was no dozer lines put in
until he had permission

'cause otherwise he'd get sued
by Parks.

So, we got to the fire
at about 11 o'clock

when he said, "Can you get out
and have a look at our farm?"

And no worries,
so, we've driven out there.

And there was our two units
and one other unit there

and then...
Private unit.

..yeah, private units.

And then a thing went out
over Facebook,

and there was about 30 farm units
there before a CFS truck got there.

Oh, it was out of control. There
was nothing we could do about it.

(WATER PATTERS)

(FIRE WHOOSHES)

(FIRE CRACKLES)

It was sighted earlier

by people out at my property

that my son and I have got
out in the West End,

only kilometres away
from where the impact was, and...

My daughter phoned me.
She was out there.

She phoned about 3:15, 3:20
on the morning of the 30th

and just said, "Dad, there's a fire
in the park close by."

We were crewed at the school,

and when the pagers first went off
at 4:30 in the morning,

we were told...

.."No, hang on,
just don't rush out yet

"because the lightning storm
is still coming through."

I flew out to the site,

coming into the scene
where the ignition point was.

Got the western end of the island
through there.

You've got your border road
that comes back up through here.

And you've got West End Highway
through here.

You've got Shackle Road.

We had a lightning strike in here.

So, that was the initial
impact there.

And then we had
the other, the second strike,

which was actually
the ravine strike out there.

Now one machine was right there
in the area.

Mine was on the low loader
here at the farm.

That's only 30 minutes away.

Some people said, "Oh,
you weren't responding straightaway."

It's not that we weren't
responding straightaway,

it's because we were waiting
for the band to come through

to ensure
that there wasn't other priorities

that were going to be greater

than going to a fire
that we couldn't access anyway.

Had we been able to go in there,
do a ring around this area,

which was done quickly
with two machines,

and then you do
a path back out again

so trucks can actually drive in

to do the containment afterwards.

But what had happened then,

we were left stranded with the idea
we weren't allowed in there.

So, once we've had the edge

put up through here
to stop the fire on the back,

we've come in through behind

with a loader from there
and a dozer from this side

and...to try and meet up.

This fire here took up
a lot of appliances,

bulldozers, graders,

all trying to contain what was
started off as a small, little fire.

And the main thing with all of this

was we spent several days
trying to contain this one

that I believe we could have put out
in a matter of hours,

and the other fire
was building the whole time.

Had that not been there,

then these resources
can be used for the main one.

I actually thought that the fire
on the eastern side of Shackle Road

was the fire
that was of the greatest priorities.

We could attack that one.

The fire on the western side
was 17 kilometres in.

You know, if we had have gone
in there with the dozers to there,

I don't think
that we would have made it

before it would have gone through
anyway.

I could have 95% guaranteed
putting that small fire out

had we been allowed in there
with bulldozers.

Look, we did the best
that we could on the day.

(PHONE LINE RINGS)

STAFFER: CFS Media. This is (BLEEP!)

DIRECTOR:
Hi, (BLEEP!) My name is Stephen.

Look, I'm just doing some research

into specifically the fires
on Kangaroo Island

just to get a top-level perspective
of, I guess, the entire effort.

What we heard was,
if I'm totally honest -

and that's why
I want to speak to you guys

because I want to get
the truth of the matter -

we heard a lot of anger

really around the fact
that they were told

that they couldn't put out the fire
when the lightning first struck.

So, we're really just looking
to corroborate that.

Yes.
Is that what you mean?

Yeah. Correct.

The Premier
has ordered an immediate review

into South Australia's
deadly bushfires.

We will immediately push ahead
with an inquiry and a review

into the bushfire preparedness.

Trust that the review
will be managed quite tightly,

but it's a great vehicle

by which to capture a whole lot
of disparate views and opinions.

Could've? Maybe. Should've? Maybe.

But people always say that
in fire situations,

and they need to be strong
in their evidence.

If that's correct, if they're
correct, and they may well be,

we need to know

because after 2007 fires

a lot of this came out
and nothing was done,

nothing was done by the government
at the time.

We need to get to the truth
of what really happened.

I think if you're going to have
a fire in the middle of summer,

it's not a good idea.

Not in 50,000 hectares of scrub.

So, if a fire is in there

and you've got the opportunity
to put it out,

you probably want to put it out.

There was never enough effort
put in initially

for the fire to be stopped
before it got going,

before it turned into this
and it WAS controllable.

So... And when it was...
it started off.

It's a lightning strike.
So, it's a small fire.

Early morning it rained.

(ROTORS WHIRR)
So, you know, it was...

You start bombing something then
and get it wet, it's controllable.

There was no need for this to happen.

We have to become more resilient

in terms of what sort of buildings
are we putting in the landscape?

What sort of fences?

How do we do prescribed burns?

How do we resource that well
that you get the best chance?

And surely do something
about climate change

so this doesn't get worse and worse.

Clearly,
the landscape has become drier,

so, this event
may not be the last one.

Touch wood.

And here we go with climate change.

Why don't we just call it the earth
does what it does in nature.

And climate
changed the jobs for the boys.

And, people, get off the bandwagon.

My own personal thoughts

is will climate change affect me
at being 45 years old?

And it may slightly.

Will it affect my kids?

Yes, it will.

Will it affect their kids?

Most definitely.

Did climate change cause this fire?

No. This was lightning.

This was lightning
in inaccessible country.

This was just the perfect storm

and the perfect opportunity,
the right conditions,

and it made a run.

If in event this happened again,
I would be prepared.

I've gone past 70,

so, I'll be prepared
to go straight in with a bulldozer

and I'll wear the consequences
afterwards.

I think it's a childish behaviour
on all parts

to say,
"You're not allowed in there."

We don't... We hardly make a mark.

We make a clean break, yes,

but we don't go in there
and devastate the country.

Turn around now and have a look
at what devastation looks like

through not
doing firebreaks properly.

And the farmers and everyone here

deserve a lot better
than what we get.

We euthanased
about another 12 today. Yep.

It doesn't. It's...

..a pretty hard...hard day
when you've got to go out

and shoot something that
you thought enough of to look after.

I don't think any farmers
would find that very easy.

(SHEEP BLEAT)

However, it's a fact of life.

You can't leave them suffering
if they're not going to make it.

And they've had three weeks now
to get over it,

and a lot of them have, of course,

and we've put a huge amount of time
into them and continue to do so.

The fire come through on the Friday,
right?

On the Saturday
we were cleaning up dead cows.

These poor bastards
didn't even have ears on them.

To lose all my animals as well,
that was the hardest bit,

to have to come back then
and try and deal with,

you know, the fact that you've lost

everything that I've spent
the last 10 years breeding up

and buying...you know,
buying good animals to breed

so you've got a good bloodline going

to then have nothing left.

It's... Yeah, that's probably
the hardest bit.

You know, I've got a sheep dog
and no sheep.

You know, I've got a house dog
and no house.

I fear that, you know, all that work

is going to be really hard to...

..to get back, you know,
to anything close to where I was.

You know?

So, I've got...
I mean, I've got my family.

Everyone says that. I mean,
that's the most important thing.

But it's still hard to, you know...

And I know it's hard for them
to come back and look at it.

And they always ask,
the kids are like,

"Are you staying out there again,
Dad?"

You know...

And that's probably the hardest thing
for me at the moment.

SHANE QUIRK: Seeing our mate's house

that have got a couple of small
kids that don't have a home anymore.

Adults can get over it.
They can get over their loss.

But small children with a room
full of toys is their world,

and that'll be the hardest thing
for them.

You know, you've got
to look after the young people.

Adults can bounce back.

Hey, look, mate, I am fucked.

Bullshit.
Yeah, well, I...

It's taken me over 20 years
to get to here.

I just don't understand.

What...

Fuck.

You know, like, I used to...

..turn over fucking...

..employ 14 people.

What do I do now?

The marks on the road
where two people died.

We drove past
when the cops were marking that out.

And that's just going to be
a memorial for those couple of lads.

I mean, that's the pinnacle,
isn't it? Lives are lost.

(WAVES CRASH)

We're more than lucky here.

More than... More than lucky.

We've got... You know, still got
the business. Still got the home.

Other people...

Mm.

I've thought a lot about it
last night. A lot.

Spent a lot of time
thinking about it, and it...

I'm...yeah, not...

Not fully comfortable.

Survivor's guilt
is such an apt word.

It's...

And it's... Almost everyone
on the island is affected by it,

and it goes as far as some people
even reluctant to say, you know,

that they had a good weekend

or that they enjoyed the movie

that they recently saw
on the mainland

or that they actually go and
support some of the local businesses

just immediately after the fire

and have a glass of wine
at the cellar door.

You know, our life is...
essentially, it's normal here,

whereas for so many people
it's not normal.

They don't have a home to go to.

Those people are hurting,

are really hurting.

From the pubs to the sporting clubs
to accommodation,

it's farmers, it's shearers.

Shearers...

..they're...

There's 100,000-plus sheep gone.

This fire has echoed through
every aspect of the community.

HEIRI KLEIN: I've also spoken
to one particular couple.

They run a farm and they lost
pretty much everything on the farm,

and they kept stressing that,
since they didn't lose their house,

they are so much better off
than all the others.

And I said, "No, don't kid yourself,"

you know, "it doesn't diminish what
you went through because it's huge."

MATTHEW JOHNSON:
We evacuated here on the Friday.

I went to the CFS station.

I've been on and off fire trucks,
farm units, food runs.

So, you never even contemplate
being open.

Even if we did have power
and we did have the ability to open.

Not when something like this
is going on.

You just...

..do what you do.

You help.

Help. It's all hands on deck.

How do we go forward?

How do we try and be as helpful
and as kind to each other as we can?

Because it's tough.

Not so much for me,

but for the people
that have lost everything.

Unfortunately, the truth that it
was...'disallow' was the word,

"I do not allow you
to put out that burning fire"...

So, we found a burning fire.
We were not allowed to put it out.

In hindsight,

I would have been happy to be the guy
in the plane that lost his job.

I would have been happy
to be the farmer in the bulldozer

that would have lost his job.

And we weren't allowed to extinguish
a fire that's killed two people.

So, yeah,
that's the kind of hurt and anger

that's flowing around at the moment.

SAM MUMFORD: It worries me that
people are talking class actions,

and all that's going to do
is divide a community.

The only way we'll get through this
is as a community.

I'm incredibly proud
of what's happened here.

These guys that work in the Parks
and these guys that work on KIPT

they have worked their absolute...
off on this fire

and, mate, they're part
of this community, right?

The rocks will be thrown, right?

There's going to be
a coronial inquest into this fire.

So, they shouldn't be thrown
from here.

Once it's all said and done, the
government will come back and say,

"Well, this is what happened
and this is why it happened."

We don't need to put division
in this community

when the whole community is hurting.

We need to get through this and
we need to get through this together.

You know, if it wasn't
for the community,

you know, outflowing and help,

I guess I'd be very angry and bitter.

But even the help of other people

doesn't overcome the fact
that, you know,

we're canned, and
we didn't really need to be canned.

That's probably the scariest thing.

That would be the scariest thing
looking forward,

would be its ability to create
divides within the community

and affect friendships and whatnot.

That would be the biggest concern.

I think this is a real opportunity

and a good test for leaders as well

to show what they can do,

whether they can be divisive
or bring people together.

It's easy to start shifting blame,

but at the end of the day, you have
to get out of this all together.

I think we can be a stronger place
after this

and things will bounce back.

Things will bounce back.

MATTHEW JOHNSON: Kangaroo Island

has one of the tightest communities
going.

People care.

People genuinely
care about each other,

whether there be, you know,

your neighbour next door
or Joe Bloggs 50 kay down the road

or the fellow
at the other end of the island

who you've played footy against
your whole life,

and, you know, you may not
be best mates on field,

when something like this happens

all that...that none of that counts.

SAM MUMFORD: I'm incredibly proud
to live where we live.

The thing that everyone says, like,

"Kangaroo Island
is a beautiful place to visit."

Mate, it's a better place to live.

Everybody cares for everyone.

And when something like this happens,

you realise, you know, just how lucky
we are to be where we are.

So...

And that's how
we're going to get through this.

The community is too...

..too strong to let...

..this beat it.

That's what keeps you going.

You know,
you know you've got support.

I don't know how would have gone
trying to do all this by myself.

Like, you can't even imagine

the amount of work that's
been done here by other people is...

Yeah. It's crazy.

I can't tell you how grateful I am.

I mean, within two days,

I had people out here
helping me with the livestock.

A week later, the army arrived
and tore all my fences down,

you know, helped me start rebuilding,
installed a toilet for me,

cut down trees that were a hazard.

Just amazing amount of work.

And they did that
in a day and a half.

It's months of work for me

what they managed to do
in a day and a half.

I've got a mate here,
he's still here,

he comes, you know,

given up his, you know,
jobs that he should be doing himself

just to come here to make sure
that, you know...

..that I can get more jobs done.

SHANE QUIRK:
We're living off the donations,

off the food
that people have donated.

So, I don't have to worry about
buying food. So, that's a godsend.

(LAUGHTER, CHATTER)

But, yeah, it's just living.

A lot of these people are proud

and they wouldn't accept donations
normally.

And I'm the same. I...

You know, I work, I work hard,

I don't really need donations, but...

It's not until you have a look
at what's gone that...

You know, if you've got a toothbrush,
someone will take it.

It's down to the bare essentials

that you can't say no anymore,

and you just start rebuilding.

So, people with no clothes except
for what they wore on that day.

So, yeah, you can't say no
to a donation.

Um...

Probably the...

(QUIETLY) Just cut it.

(SIGHS)

That's the difficult part - the help.

It's amazing.

(EXHALES HEAVILY)

Yeah, it's mind-blowing, really. Mm.

The army.

Blaze Aid.

Friends have lent us all the gear
this year.

You know, it just goes on and on.

(SIGHS) That's the toughest part
to deal with, actually.

Yeah, I guess
I don't like charity much.

That's the hardest part.

People are well-meaning, and I guess
I would have done it for others.

I had people ring and want my, you
know, bank balance account. And...

You know, I really can't handle that.
And...

But the community spirit is great.

Yeah.

We're all in this together.

And we'll dig through it
and keep going.

JADE VIVIENNE: This island,
virtually, runs on tourism,

so, it's crucial
to have people realise

that, yes, we've been burnt out,

but it's not going to stop us
from moving forward.

But I'm absolutely optimistic
it will bounce back,

everything will bounce back,

and it also shows how much support
there already is

from the mainland and from consumers,

from tourism campaigns.

MATTHEW JOHNSON: The ripple effect
from this will go for years

until an absolute minimum for
the tourism industry next summer...

..when hopefully we're back up,

as, you know,
South Australia's iconic island,

Kangaroo Island
and nature's paradise.

The Kangaroo Island
that people love is still here.

We've still got half of the island
untouched.

Come here. Enjoy it.

There's so many beaches
and cafes and wineries.

The wild, rustic,

you're-on-the edge-of-the-earth
feeling is still here.

Experience the culture.
Experience the locals.

Come and see us. You know, that's
the most important thing you can do.

Kangaroo Island
really needs you to come.

I travel ban will be placed

on all non-residents,
non-Australian citizens,

coming to Australia,

and that will be in place
from 9:00PM tomorrow evening.

There's panic and confusion
across the state tonight

as South Australians
prepare to go into total lockdown.

From midnight
we're being told to stay at home.

So, this used to be the big shed.

(LAUGHS)

She all got ripped down.

Cleaned up.

Seeing
everything you've worked for...

..get pulled down and crushed,

just get...yeah.

Like your whole life just destroyed.

You know? Very depressing.

Yeah.

And then having to clean it up.

(CHUCKLES)

SHANE QUIRK: Yeah, as a tradie
I've just been flat-out working.

So, yeah, it's normal.

That's the normal.

What amazed me -
how quick everybody just fired up

when the farmers
had to do their fencing,

and it's just kept rolling.

Last 12 months
it's been pretty crazy, really.

It just never ends, so...

Yeah.
It helps you forget about it all.

Everything's just so slow.

They talk about recovery, but...

My case manager,

he's got about 10 people over here,

and I know not one of them
have got their loan yet,

14 months on.

We're farmers.
We're not bloody accountants.

You could start another bushfire
with the amount of paperwork.

You know, we all pushed ourselves
that much that it was...

And I look back on it and I think,

"How hard can the human body
be pushed?"

And I...

You go to the brink, that's for sure.

PETER LOCK: You know,
when you've been burnt out,

you're right at the bottom
of the bottom...

..so, you've got to...

All you want to do is see stuff
going ahead to make you feel better

so that you can actually
work towards it.

Everyone's struggling.

You're basically
fighting all this on your own.

You've got your mates
you just talk it over with.

And they were in the same boat.

They were busting their arse
and getting nowhere.

So...

I don't know
what the secret is to it.

SHANE QUIRK: You know,
I drive around the island

and I still go through what
we were talking about on the radio.

So, it is a flashback. It's a...

It's weird. It's...

Yeah, it gets you. It's got me.

But, you know,

like I say to the crew...

..it's the new normal.

Of course
you're going to get stuff like that.

Yeah, you might have a tear,
and you... Yeah.

But if you watch the news...

(CHUCKLES DRYLY)

..it's not the worst thing
that's happened to anybody.

PETER LOCK: Quite a few times
I've wondered

whether it was worth going on.

If it wasn't for all the mates around
here that got burnt out as well,

like, you know...

I think it's just that everyone else
has kept everyone together.

Because it's been bloody hard yards.

This will all be 500-tonne cool room,
this section here.

Grading plant.

I've got the footings down
for the shed,

but I just need
to finish paying for the shed.

There'll be a massive solar system
on the roof.

Be a big workshop at the back,

and the trucks will come through
and load undercover.

So, yeah.

If all the measurements are right,
it should work mickey mouse.

Ah, there's always great challenges.

It's great fun.
It's part of living the dream, mate.

(BIRDS WARBLE)

DAVE HALLORAN: Hopefully
now we've had some meeting

with the Parks people from Adelaide,

they asked me to come in to put
some opinions forward, which we did,

and instead of doing controlled
burn-offs in October, November,

I said that's way too late,

and now the new bloke
we've got in there, he's really good,

so, they're burning
this time of the year.

And also interested in doing
the big chain breaks in there

that we want to try and achieve.

Let's hope something has sunk in.

You know, I've been out
to Flinders Chase

and it's just that big that you can't
carve it up in sections and...

You follow a management plan

and you can try,
but it's all about the response

and do we learn the lessons?

Do we...

If it happens again,
how are we going to deal with it?

I'm hoping for a decent victory soon.

The spuds coming out of the ground
are good. That's a victory, I guess.

That'll help pay
towards some of the stuff.

Just got to take little steps

and take a bite and chew like hell,
I think.

Just keep fighting.

The only thing I can think of doing.

Hopefully I'll be back on my feet
within three or four years.

Hopefully.

If all the stars line up.

(LAUGHS)

So, yeah.

Fucked if I know.

We'll get there.

NEWSREADER: The scathing report

found the fire service
prioritised National Park buildings

over homes.

They found
that there were systemic failings

in the way the CFS managed
the KI fires last fire season,

failings in communication

and also
bushfire-fighting procedures.

It also found there was
a disproportionate focus

on trying to save
a National Park visitor centre

instead of focusing
on saving homes on the island,

many of which were lost.

There were nowhere near enough
resources on the ground

to fight this unpredictable blaze,
according to the report,

nor was there adequate technology,

which meant that CFS crews
were actually getting lost

while fighting the blaze.

The CFS has been accused of trying
to cover up this report

because it was finalised last October

and it has just been released now.

The CFS said that they wanted
to make sure they briefed

all of the volunteers involved

before speaking publicly about this.

It has now been released publicly.

And indeed there were
11 recommendations for changes

made in the report,

all of which have been accepted
by the CFS.