06:11

The Kangaroo Island fire has also destroyed at least $20m worth of blue gum and pine trees on plantations run by Kanagaroo Island Plantation Timber.

On Friday KIPT said it was still assessing the damage, but at least 13% of its forests had been burned.

The company said it would try to salvage wood from the areas that have already burned by bringing forward harvesting.

“It was unfightable”, Bates said of the fire.

“Is this our new normal? That’s the fear.”

She said the fires were “greatly subdued, but we’re in for some warmer weather midweek”.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Fire crews from Adelaide have relieved tired local volunteers, but Bates said locals would be keen to handle the mop up.

She said tourists were evacuated to Penneshaw before boarding Sealink ferries to the mainland.

“This is our very busiest peak time, this is when the influx comes”, she said.

“There were 10 or 11,000 people here, in total – that’s a bit of a guess.”

Visitors have been asked not to come to the island unless it is essential.

“Most tourists want to visit our beautiful iconic sites – and of course there’s no access to that end of the island,” Bates said.

“It’s best to give us all a bit of breathing space and then come back later.”