Emergency warnings remain in place for the towns of Parndana and Vivonne Bay after a second major escalation in the Kangaroo Island bushfire.

Both towns came under direct threat on Thursday after being evacuated as fire fronts raged towards them.

The Country Fire Service deputy incident controller, Ray Jackson, said a wind change came earlier than forecast and had pushed the fire fronts to the east.

“It’s safe to say that currently Parndana is still of a concern but the fire is not expected to run into there with a high intensity,” he said.

He said a similar situation was also expected for Vivonne Bay with the CFS “hopeful” the shacks and properties along the southern coast of the island would be OK.

On Thursday afternoon, the fire was running along the Cygnet River towards Kingscote, though it was unclear how close it might come to the island’s largest town.

Authorities said Kingscote was not considered at immediate risk and residents were not being asked to leave.

“We’re quite comfortable that if anything does come up we can deal with that because it is a safer place,” Jackson said.

The CFS was also hopeful that cooler conditions and some rain heading into Friday would allow crews to better contain the running fires and strengthen containment lines.

Nevertheless, the CFS chief officer, Mark Jones, warned against complacency.

“These fires are travelling quickly,” Jones said. “What might have seemed safe this morning may not be safe by evening so we want people to get the message and to move away from the fire areas.”

As the fire roared towards Parndana, store owners Jen and Mike Boyd elected to stay but were fearful of what was heading their way.

“I’m scared it’s going to go and it’s everything we have in the world,” Boyd said. “It has our house next to it, so if it goes up we lose our income and our home.

“I’m also scared for the town.”

Other residents who left Parndana placed sprinklers on the roofs of their homes, hoping they would prevent them burning down.

At the peak of the emergency last week, Parndana also came under threat with locals saying the glow in the sky was “just incredible”.

CFS crews also dealt with major flare-ups on the north coast on Thursday, with water bombing conducted at Stokes Bay.

Property owner John Stanton was keeping a watchful eye over this 98-year-old father’s home, which was spared despite his wider family losing three other properties to the fire.

The fire has already destroyed 160,000 hectares across Kangaroo Island, including most of the famed Flinders Chase national park.

It has claimed two lives with the outback pilot Dick Lang, 78, and his 43-year-old son, Clayton, killed as they returned to their home.

The blaze first broke out on 20 December from a lightning strike but escalated rapidly on Friday before jumping containment lines again on Thursday.