You can still hear the disbelief in Hayley Baillie's voice as she describes the ferocious bushfire that destroyed her world-renowned Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island.

"We were all very prepared, but you just don't think it's really going to happen," she says. "The fire was just unprecedented in its speed and heat."

Hayley Baillie plans to rebuild her iconic Southern Ocean Lodge that was destroyed by bushfires this month. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The award-winning luxury lodge, the flagship property in Baillie Lodges' portfolio of resorts, was destroyed in fires that ravaged the South Australian island earlier this month, claiming the lives of pilot Dick Lang and his son, Adelaide surgeon Clayton Lang.

A fireplace and statue of a kangaroo made from found objects, including the engine of a Sunshine tractor, is all that remains of the 21-suite resort perched on limestone cliffs above the Southern Ocean.