- Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KIPT) is keeping its shares in suspension as it fights bushfires across the island
- The company reported today the Ravine des Casoars fires escaped containment last Thursday
- The company’s own firefighting teams have been working with the South Australian Country Fire Service to try to control the blaze
- Roughly 95 per cent of the company’s plantations have been damaged in the fires
- Shares last traded on January 3 for $1.96 each
Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KIPT) is keeping its shares in suspension as it continues to fight of raging bushfires across the island.
The company told investors today the fire in the Ravine des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area escaped containment last Thursday. KIPT’s own fire teams are now working with the South Australian Country Fire Service to stop the blaze from spreading further eastward.
Still, the fire burnt through a large area of farmland and damaged several of KIPT’s remaining plantations along with buildings, fences, and other property in the area.
A small silver lining in the cloud of bad news is that though KIPT’s Timber Creek Mill was in the path of the fires and suffered some light damage, the preservation plant at the Mill went unscathed.
KIPT said this equipment will be crucial in rebuilding damaged fencing not only on Kangaroo Island but in many other fire-affected regions of the country. Smaller fire-damaged pine logs can be turned into treated fence posts, according to the company.
KIPT released a map estimating the burnt area of the island after the Ravine blaze broke free. The company said 95 of its plantations are now fire-affected, with 100 per cent of the island’s 12 independent grower plantations affected.
The company’s fire insurance will help offset the worst of the costs from the firefighting and rebuilding thereafter. KIPT said at the start of the year the insured value of the standing timber damaged by the Duncan fires is $11.6 million, while the area damaged by the Ravine fires has an insured value of $8.45 million.
Still, the blazes have been devastating for the Kangaroo Island community. Two lives and tens of thousands of animals have been lost in the inferno.
KIPT shares have been suspended from trade since January 3 as the company works to fight the fires and help the Kangaroo Island community rebuild. Shares last traded for $1.96 each.