A MOUNT Gambier soldier may remain on Kangaroo Island until the end of February as he continues to provide assistance to residents in the wake of devastating bushfires, which have burnt more than half the island.
Corporal Chris Smaling – from the 10th/27th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment – was part of the second Australian Defence Force (ADF) deployment, which arrived on the island on January 13.
Camped on a fairway of the Vivonne Bay golf course, Cpl Smaling described the heartbreaking devastation he has seen throughout the island.
“The first time I saw a burnt out house, I was a little bit heartbroken to be honest and then I quickly realised the devastation is everywhere,” Cpl Smaling said.
“The more we see, the more we realise the magnitude of the fire.”
When they were first deployed to the island, there was still an active fire ground, however that was not uncharted territory for Cpl Smaling.
“I am actually Metropolitan Fire Service firefighter by profession, so I have seen a bit of wildfire before and I was pretty confident we were always safe,” he said.
“There was a bit of smoke around, but we were mainly working in the blacked out areas.”
CPL Smaling said his emergency support unit was currently in the recovery phase after the fire on the island was declared contained last week.
“We are doing some fairly intensive work, particularly in relation to boundary fences for farmers to give them a head-start in their recovery,” he said.
“We actually attended a property the other day and worked to restore around 50km of fencing in a few days, which the farmer said would have taken him around two months.”
He highlighted the spirit of the people affected who were always thinking of someone else.
“We have actually been able to prioritise work quite easy thanks to the people on the island, because we will drive onto a property with a fair bit of damage and a farmer will say ‘go help this guy first, he’s struggling,'” he said.
“The spirit of the people is just amazing, despite what they have all been through they are still looking out for eachother.”
Reflecting on the impact of the fire, Cpl Smaling said there was one thing that continues to stick in his mind.
“I have seen a fair bit of dead wildlife and stock, particularly early on in the piece and that really hit us hard,” he said.
“One of our first tasks was to drag dead stock out into the middle of a paddock, it was pretty sad.”
As recovery efforts continue and the community prepares to rebuild, Cpl Smaling said he was confident about the future of the island.
“They have dealt with this before, not at this scale, but they will rebuild because that’s all you can do,” he said.
“I must say it was amazing how quickly the ADF were deployed and units were able to offer their specialist skills and the community has been quite appreciative of us.
“We have definitely had a role to play to help with the recovery.”
While the Governor-General call-out ends very soon and many of the ADF personnel will return to their daily job, Cpl Smaling said his time on the island may extend until the end of February.
