The winds whipped and the sky darkened with ash as Brendan Moten sheltered with his family and the bushfire raged around them.
Mr Moten - who owns a bakery in Kapunda, which was in the line of Wednesday's devastating bushfire north of Adelaide - fled his rural property and sought safety in the town.
"A lot of people were gathered in the main street and there was smoke and ash and it was Armageddon for a while," he told AAP.
"I feel lucky. Our place was under threat for a while ... It was heading our way but it didn't get there. It went around."
Light Regional Council Mayor Bill O'Brien believed Kapunda was safe until a wind change brought the front within a kilometre of the town.
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"At 6 o'clock here last night, it looked like winter. And then the sky lit up and it was very frightening," he said.
Mayor O'Brien said the blaze was "spasmodic", passing over one paddock to consume the next.
"I feel absolutely gutted, you know. I love this region. I just don't know where to start, what to do first," he said.
Two people have been killed in the blaze and 13 are in hospital, with five of those in a serious or critical condition.
At least 16 homes have been destroyed along with outbuildings, vehicles and farm machinery.
A watch and act message remains in force with the CFS warning the blaze is still a going fire.
The blaze has destroyed 85,000 hectares of grass, cropping land and scrub and still has the potential to break out of its existing perimeter.
