‘It buoys our spirits’: Animals rescued from fireground weeks after blaze

It is hard to believe that anything survived the Cherry Gardens fire.

The blaze was so hot it sent a plume of smoke high over the Adelaide skyline during the day and left the night sky glowing a deep eerie red.

Two homes, 19 outbuildings and two vehicles were lost in the blaze that burnt more than 2,700 hectares of land south-east of Adelaide amid extreme heat.

Weeks on from the fire, volunteers from the South Australian Veterinary Emergency Management (SAVEM) organisation are scouring the fireground looking for signs of life.

The organisation’s volunteers have scoured the fireground for weeks looking for animals in need of help.

“Wildlife survive for a surprisingly long time after a fire has gone through,” Dr Westcott said.

“Sometimes up to eight to 10 weeks [afterwards] we find animals who are injured and emaciated.

“Animals usually go into hiding usually during the first week after a fire and don’t come out until at least the end of the first week.”

Constant monitoring of the area since the fire has seen hundreds of kangaroos, koalas and other native animals such as bandicoots, echidnas and birds receive care for injuries sustained during the blaze.

The teams have been moving through the Cherry Gardens fireground for three weeks and expect to continue the work for another three at least.

“Animals aren’t just like livestock where you know where they are and you know who owns them and how many there are,” she said.

“Wildlife are completely different stories so — we don’t know how many there are, we don’t know exactly where they are.”

While many animals need further care at wildlife sanctuaries or specialised care providers for burns and fractures, others are found healthy.

“It is lovely when you find one that is well, that just needs to be moved 50 metres up the road to an area that hasn’t been burned where there are other koalas who are also healthy,” Dr Westcott said.