Fire Survivors Choose Gratitude Over Loss Near Adelaide

When Isaac Selfe returned to his property after 20 years of memories went up in flames, his first words weren't about what he lost—they were about gratitude that everyone survived.

The Tooperang fire near Mount Compass erupted Sunday afternoon, racing through more than 600 hectares of grassland and scrub. At least two families lost their homes completely, with more damage still being assessed by the Country Fire Service.

Selfe had just watered his garden and driven to the shop when frantic phone calls came in about flames on Nangkita Road. Authorities blocked his return, forcing him to watch helplessly from a neighboring hill as fire bombers and helicopters battled the blaze near his home.

He spent the night "running around with buckets" alongside friends and family who rushed to help fight the flames. When dawn broke, the devastating truth became clear: his house was gone, along with two decades of possessions including a classic car he'd been lovingly rebuilding.

"All the family memories in a house full of the things that you collect—the memories are still there," Selfe said, standing in the ruins. "They're only possessions."

Natasha Price was at the beach with her partner and three children when evacuation alerts lit up their phones. Within 20 minutes of rushing home, flames surrounded their motorhome on a Nangkita property where they'd been helping elderly landowners with conservation work.

When police finally let her return, she found everything destroyed. "It was like a war zone," she said, describing blackened landscape where trees once stood.

Judy Rayner grabbed her dog and fled to Mount Compass, joining other evacuees seeking safety. A nearby structure on her property was destroyed, but she returned Monday morning focusing on the same truth that sustained Selfe: "We're so thankful we're OK."

Why This Inspires

These families lost nearly everything material in a single afternoon. Yet each one chose to frame their experience around gratitude rather than grief. Their immediate instinct wasn't to rage at the unfairness or dwell on possessions—it was to count blessings that family, friends, and pets survived.

That choice to focus on what remains instead of what's gone doesn't erase the very real trauma and hardship ahead. But it gives them a foundation to rebuild from, and it reminds the rest of us what truly matters when everything else burns away.

The Tooperang community now faces months of recovery, but they're starting from a place of profound perspective about what's worth saving.