Keilira fire-affected farmers get back on feet

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But nearly six months on, the charred ground is greening up, gum trees are re-shooting and stock on agistment are returning.

Three neighbours, who were among the 22 affected farms, say they can't thank enough those who donated hay, fencing material and other items, as well as the army of volunteers who have come to help in the rebuild.

More than 280 BlazeAid volunteers put in 1782 days between January and early May, clearing more than 270 kilometres of fencing and rebuilding 250km. Even after the base camp at the Kingston Community School closed, a few have stayed on.

Tania and Malcolm Smith, who lost more than 90 per cent of the pasture and fencing on their 1010ha property Pigeon Box, say they are hugely grateful to the local farmers who took 300 of their cows on agistment.

The trucks, which had been coordinated by the Smiths' stock agent Rob Handbury, arrived while the fire was still burning.

"We managed to get a fair few into the yards and where they came from, it got pretty hot so we could have lost a lot more, luckily we only lost three cows and a handful of sheep," Mr Smith said.

"It was a big weight off your shoulders knowing you didn't need to think about the stock."

Mrs Smith, who coordinated the donated hay receivals, has been overwhelmed by the generosity of the local community, with about 2000 donated bales delivered by the Mount Gambier Hay Runners and Mount Gambier West Rotary Club.

She estimates another 2000 bales were given by farmers across the SE.

The Smiths have reinstated more than 25km of fencing so far and about half of their agisted cattle have returned, so the donated hay is being put to good use.

"You don't know how to thank the people that donated the hay," she said.

"Some we know, most we won't ever know who they were and just the businesses and the drivers that donated their time to cart the hay here was just amazing. We are still getting offers of hay, but what we have got now seems to be sustaining us - one day I just hope we can pay it forward."

Anthony McInness, who was in his first year of sharefarming the property next to the Smiths, said the hay donations were a huge help in feeding his Angus herd.

He found agistment for 100 cows after having three quarters of the 1200ha property burnt out, but has been feeding another 300 cows seven days a week.

"We managed to save three quarters of the hay we cut ourselves," he said.

"After the fire, we did a budget with a nutritionist to work out how many tonnes we would need working on the worst case of a June break. The donated hay really helped supplement the hay we had to buy in.

"We are still feeding out more than we would pre-fire, with bare areas where we wouldn't normally have bare areas and there are more weeds than other years."

Down the road, Lachie and Amanda Stewart lost 75pc of their pastures and all of the hay on their Cherrita property, although some quick work to get their stock down the laneway and across the road saved several mobs in the fire's path.

Until recently though, these 3500 ewes and wethers have been fed in confinement pens with grain and hay, including donated bales.

Mrs Stewart says the generosity extended by friends and complete strangers has been heart warming.

"In the worst of times it is often the best of humanity that comes out and we have seen that," she said.

The neighbours are pleased both Optus and Telstra have committed to building mobile phone towers in the black spot area.

Mrs Smith said on the day of the fire it was difficult to even make a triple zero call, with their daughter Isabelle rushing to the top of a hill as the fire raced towards them.

A CFS truck arrived just in time with the fire burning within 30 metres of the house and sheds.

"We were just lucky that no lives were lost that day," she said.

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All three neighbours say the harrowing experience has brought home the importance of having a good on-farm fire plan and effective farm firefighting equipment.

"The private fire fighting units did a lot, patrolling inside the perimeter of the fire and controlling flare ups," Mr McInness said.

"You might not be thinking about it, but now is the time to be prepared for this summer," Mrs Stewart added.

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Kingston District Council chief executive officer Nat Traeger, says more than $16,000 of donations has been given to the Keilira Bushfire Fund and a similar amount to the BlazeAid Fund to set up the base camp.

Several other fundraisers have been held, including one at the Willalooka Tavern which resulted in each fire-affected family receiving a $820 cash card.