Last December, Bev Langley was called out to a home in Lobethal to rescue a small echidna that was stuck under the house in the Adelaide Hills.

Key points: Countless animals were injured or killed in the devastating SA bushfires

Countless animals were injured or killed in the devastating SA bushfires Ethel the echidna was found "slowly dying" under a house in the Adelaide Hills

Ethel the echidna was found "slowly dying" under a house in the Adelaide Hills She is recovering and is now living in an enclosure at the Cleland Wildlife Park

The devastating Cudlee Creek bushfire had left the animal with burns to the underside of her little body, melted quills and toenails, and she had also lost some of her claws.

"Dear little Ethel was hiding under the house for well over a week, she couldn't dig, she couldn't walk, couldn't feed, and she was just slowly dying and dehydrating," Ms Langley said.

Ethel the echidna now lives in an enclosure at Cleland Wildlife Park. ( ABC News: Helen Frost )

"We rehydrated her and gave her pain relief and antibiotics and then we bandaged her little feet up with the burn creams and then after a while, we didn't need to bandage them."

Ms Langley started the Minton Farm Animal Rescue Centre with her husband, Glenn, in the 1990s and it is still a free community service.

Together, they have rescued, rehabilitated and rehomed more than 12,500 animals at their animal hospital facility in Cherry Gardens, and helped more than double that offsite.

"When the fire started at Lobethal and Woodside, we started to receive burnt possums … the firies would cut the trees down with the possum in it and they'd bring it over," she said.

"Then we had burnt koalas and kangaroos that people would find coming out after the fires."

Ethel the echidna was one of the lucky ones: she was brought to Cleland Wildlife Park, where she now lives inside an enclosure with Bandicoots.

Due to her injuries, she can not live outside with other echidnas, but keepers hope she will eventually join them as her spines and toenails grow back.

"It's a very slow progress with them: when they're ready to move on to the next step, if they don't cope with it, you go back a step and bring them back into the hospital," Ms Langley said.

Passion for animal rescue runs in the family

Bev and Glenn Langley's daughter Jess Jones proves the adage the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Jess Jones (centre) with parents Bev and Glenn Langley at their animal rescue farm. ( ABC News: Steve Opie )

"I think it's probably in my blood. I was born and raised here on the Minton Farm," she said.

"So my childhood was very blessed. I had lots of contact with animals and with conservation work, and it's been just a family thing that we've all invested in."

A koala burnt in the bushfire has recovered at Minton Farm. ( ABC News: Steve Opie )

When the bushfires devastated Kangaroo Island, Ms Jones put a call out on social media via Caring for Conservation and Minton Farm, asking people to donate a list of urgent medical supplies.

She said they were overwhelmed by the generosity, and received more than $1 million worth of equipment.

They now have a stockpile they share with Adelaide Koala Rescue and centres in Victoria, as well.

"We originally had said we've got one car going over and we want to take a carload … 18 pallets later, we had SA health come on board with their courier service," Ms Jones said.

"Not only did we have people coming and bringing supplies from their own homes, from their cupboards, but we also had people raising money and buying specifically for us."

Volunteers helping out during holidays

The Minton Farm Animal Rescue Centre is now focused on supplying food for the animals on Kangaroo Island.

They are stocking up on sweet potato, carrots, birdseed and kangaroo food for the native animals as well as items for dogs, horses and cattle.

The rescue centre relies on donations and the help of volunteers.

Tanya Veltman heard about the work at Minton Farm and offered to fill her car with supplies during her trip to Kangaroo Island.

Ms Veltman offered to bring supplies to the farm during a holiday to Kangaroo Island. ( ABC News: Helen Frost )

"We decided to go on holidays there to put some more money back into the community, so if we can take produce with us then that's perfect," she said.

"We're going to take them to a couple of sanctuaries. I think that if anyone's going to these places for a holiday, if they can help out in any way, then they should, and we want to take things that are needed."

This is the type of community spirit Minton Farm relies on to keep running and businesses also donate food for the animals.

Because Bev and Glenn have limited help from volunteers, they have a list of specific items on their website so they don't have to sort through items they can't put to use.

"It's a free community service, so we're the biggest recyclers and bin scabs in this country. So, that's how we survive," Ms Langley said.

"The volunteers are always bum-up in the bin somewhere getting greens or whatever to help us.

"I love it. I love every minute of it. I love the creatures. I love the people we meet.

"And I love the fact that we are hopefully improving the biodiversity in the environment by getting these creatures back into their families."