Next week will mark 40 years since the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires swept across the region.

More than 180 fires fanned by winds up to 110kph caused extensive destruction across South Australia and Victoria on February 16, 1983.

The fires were the deadliest bushfires in Australian history until the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and 28 deaths were recorded in South Australia, including 14 in the South East and another 47 in Victoria.

Approximately 208,000ha of land was burnt in South Australia and 210,000ha in Victoria and the fire destroyed or damaged more than 37,000 buildings, including over 300 homes.

Former Tarpeena resident Bruce Case spoke to The SE Voice and recalled his personal experience during the Ash Wednesday bushfires.

Mr Case was bound for Adelaide on the day the fires tore through Tarpeena, however a gut instinct stopped him in his tracks.

“I was supposed to take a load of timber down to Adelaide that day, so I went up early in the morning to load and I got home and just said to my wife, ‘I am not going to Adelaide, something is going to happen’,” he said.

“I just had that feeling and that is what happened, so I just went around the town to all of the people that were still home that were not working and told them if anything happened to go to the oval.

“Some said they did not want to go, but they all did anyways.

“And in doing that, we did not lose any lives.

“It was the safest place for everyone, and it was big enough that everyone had their cars and trailers and caravans and everything on the oval.”

Mr Case and his wife Faye said the fire was going straight past Tarpeena until the wind took a nasty turn, sending the flames straight towards the town.

“Faye was watching it going past and then she said, ‘it’s turned, it’s coming’,” Mr Case said.

“It was a bad day, it would have been a 40-degree day.

“The wind was horrific; the noise, the roar.”

Mr Case said the town turned dark, which made it virtually impossible to see anything.

“The darkness is something that you would never experience except in that,” Ms Case said.

Tarpeena had approximately 500 residents at the time and most took refuge on the oval besides a few people who were still at work, and Mr Case recalled fireballs the size of houses going over them.

“I did not realise what was going on because Faye and I both walked around with big water containers going to each car saying, ‘do not panic, settle down, just have a drink of water’,” Mr Case said.

“And then all of a sudden we realised the fire has gone over us, we just did not realise what was going on, we were too worried about the people, trying to settle them down and that sort of thing.

“It was a good community out there, the whole time we lived out there it was just a top community.

“It was well into the night before people went and checked what their house was like and then the poor people would come back to the oval in tears, they had nothing left, so everyone would comfort them.”

Mr Case arranged for everyone to clean up the town on Saturday and a Mount Gambier butcher drove up on Sunday to cook a barbecue for everyone.

Ms Case said the Tarpeena Hall became the town’s main hub for a couple of weeks.

“The volunteers who were fighting the fires, they were just exhausted, they would come in and just sit on the floor, and so we had big containers of soup the women were making and then we had the Salvation Army come out and a couple of others and then the clothing started to arrive,” she said.

Twenty-two houses were lost in Tarpeena, but no fatalities, and the couple said everyone who lost their homes found places to stay and everyone eventually rebuilt.

“We are still here to talk about it, and that was the main thing,” Mr Case said.

“I can still picture everything, and I always will.”

An ‘Ash Wednesday 40 Years On’ event will be held at the Tarpeena Hall on Saturday, February 18 at 2pm and is open for all to attend.

A welcome and speeches will take place at 3pm and anyone who wishes to speak about their experience is welcome to.

This will be followed by a laying of wreaths at 4pm and people will then go to the Tarpeena Football Club for a community barbecue cooked by the Progress Association and the bar will be operating.

Luke Bald will be onsite to record and take photos for the Tarpeena Ash Wednesday Archives and people can take photos or newspaper clippings, but ensure they are clearly marked.

Meanwhile, the devastating bushfires will be recalled at a public commemoration on February 16 at Kalangadoo.

Members of the Kalangadoo community will gather at 6pm at the Ash Wednesday memorial near the Kalangadoo CFS Brigade fire station on Railway Terrace.