Animals put down after fire
Antelope injured in devastating blaze
A WILDFIRE which has swept through the Overstrand for the past nine days has not only damaged vegetation, but caused 10 injured antelope to be put down.
The animals sustained injuries trying to escape the wildfire in Betty’s Bay, according to Working on Fire (WoF). At least 8 270 hectares of vegetation has burned so far, while the Kogel Bay fire has spread to the Steenbras catchment and is burning actively.
“Traffic officials are, where possible, diverting traffic at the R44 turn-off towards Kleinmond. This is to divert cars intending to travel through to Gordon’s Bay. But motorists still have access to Kleinmond and Betty’s Bay on the R44,” WoF said.
“Also note that all our firefighters working on the lines are looked after as per organisational standards. No firefighter or support staff will be deployed, or gets deployed, without the minimum required rest period and nutrition,” WoF said.
A 34-year-old man was arrested for contravention of the Nature Conservation Act after the City put out a R5 000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect who allegedly discharged a flare in the Kogel Bay Nature Reserve during the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Since the start of December, close to 300 WoF firefighters and aircraft- assisted multiple partners including the Southern Cape FPA, Greater Cederberg and Overberg FPA, Cape Nature and SA National Parks have been instrumental in suppressing 24 fires, limiting the area burned to 16 937ha.
“Our aerial resources consisting of 11 spotter planes, eight Huey helicopters and four AT 802 fixed wing air tractor bombers flew approximately 67 hours at multiple fires. As the Betty’s Bay fire continues in its eighth day, more than 150 WoF firefighters, a spotter plane and three Huey helicopters, have kept busy this past week assisting the Unified Command in combating the fires in the Overstrand/ Overberg Region,” WoF said.
At the same time in Wupperthal in the Cederberg, the Muslim Judicial Council met with Reverend Godfrey Cunningham, president of the Moravian Church in Southern Africa, and committed to assisting the fire disaster victims.
Social workers and clergy arrived in Wupperthal this week to support victims of the fire that left about 200 people homeless. The demolition of historic buildings has also started.
“The Moravian Church in Southern Africa is appreciative of the pledge by the Muslim faith community, together with many other religious denominations in the country, in the call to aid of the Wupperthal fire victims following the devastating disaster,” the church said yesterday.