page_title: Kangaroo Island
section_title: 2007 bushfires
hierarchical_section_title: Kangaroo Island / Environment / Fires / 2007 bushfires
caption_attribution_description: Burn scars show red in this false-colour satellite image of Kangaroo Island, South Australia.
context_page_description: Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta, is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia 112 km southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Point in Backstairs Passage, which is 13.5 km from the Fleurieu Peninsula.
  The native population of Aboriginal Australians that once occupied the island disappeared from the archaeological record when the land became an island following rising sea levels several thousand years ago. It was subsequently settled intermittently by sealers and whalers in the early 19th century, and from 1836 on a permanent basis during the British colonisation of South Australia.
  Since then the island's economy has been principally agricultural, with a southern rock lobster fishery and with tourism growing in importance. The largest town, and the administrative centre, is Kingscote. The island has several nature reserves to protect the remnants of its natural vegetation and native animals, with the largest and best-known being Flinders Chase National Park at the western end.
context_section_description: Lightning strikes on Thursday 6 December 2007 caused several fires on the Island. Before being contained on 16 December 2007 over 20% of the Island had been burnt totaling 900 square kilometres (220,000 acres), principally within National Park and Conservation Reserves.
  The most serious outbreak occurred in Flinders Chase National Park, with 630 square kilometres (or 85% of the total park area) having been burnt.
caption: Burn scars from 2007 show red in this false-colour satellite image
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