BLAZEAID volunteers have now completed 750 kilometres of fencing on bushfire-ravaged Kangaroo Island, and yet there is more to do.
Camp coordinator Graeme Norfolk said there were about 4500 fencing posts on the list to complete and at 50 to 100 posts a day, that would take volunteers through to mid-November.
"But we keep getting calls for work and I took just two this morning," he said.
Mr Norfolk and his wife Maxine meanwhile are weighing up their own future after six months on the Island, away from their home in Quorn in the state's Mid North.
"We want to stay as long as we can and continue to help," he said, noting that if they left and there was still work, BlazeAid would find a replacement camp coordinator.
Another dilemma is that BlazeAid's lease of two tractors was set to expire in November and so now the organisation was weighing up whether to work on finding replacements.
The KI Lions Club, that donated a Munro post-hole digger to the camp earlier this year, wants to see BlazeAid stay longer.
President John Berden said the Lions Club was prepared to do what it could to keep BlazeAid working, whether that was extending the tractor leases or finding replacement tractors on the Island.
KI mayor Michael Pengilly was also keen to see BlazeAid stay longer and was confident the Island community and Lions Club would continue to support the magnificent effort.
The camp is also ready to work with the Parndana Show Society with the town's agricultural show set to go ahead in November.
The camp is currently set up in the pavilion building at the showgrounds adjacent to the Parndana Oval.
Mr Norfolk said he and other volunteers would be willing to help set up the show and do whatever it took to make the event a success.
Finding volunteers to come over to the Island had been a challenge, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Norfolk said there were about 20 volunteers in the Parndana camp, but an ideal number was a 25 or 30.
Any grey nomads or backpackers in SA or other states allowed to travel would be most welcome to join the KI camp.
- Details: BlazeAid website or Graeme 0427 486 284 or blazeaid.kangarooisland@gmail.com
Stan Gorton
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
