Fires rage over farm areas
Personnel fight blazes in Makana, Ndlambe
MULTIPLE fires erupted across the Makana and Ndlambe districts between noon and early evening on Monday, with fire-fighters, vehicles and other resources from both the Port Alfred and Grahamstown stations tackling the blazes.
Five big fires and a few smaller “run-off” fires were attended to with the only damage being burnt grass and bush. The first reports started flooding in on a social media security forum initiated by Dudley Waters of Panther Farm Security, and shared between surrounding farmers.
A farmer in the Martindale area sounded the alarm to a wattle plantation ablaze, to which Grahamstown fire department responded.
Extremely dry vegetation and strong westerly winds caused the fire to break off into smaller but separate fires that moved towards neighbouring farms, while a second fire in the Roundhill/ Trappes Valley area erupted.
Local farmers stood together and responded to the fire outbreaks with tractors loaded with water tanks while firefighters from Port Alfred Fire Department attended to fires in Shaw Park and Roundhill Nature Reserve.
Emergency appeals started pouring in from residents of the Southwell farm area, where two more fires broke out while another big fire raged its flames at Manley Flats near Grahamstown. Another fire caused by a lightning strike broke out above Houston Lodge and Sibuya Game Reserve. Quick response from farmers helped dampen the fire damage, while late-afternoon rain wet the ground and extinguished the flames from the Manley Flats area. Grahamstown fire department also attended to the Southwell and Manley Flats fires.
Ndlambe’s directorate of community protections services said the cause of the fires was unknown, but that burning of vegetation or refuse in any open areas, including private property, was prohibited without a control burning permit issued by the Ndlambe Fire and Emergency Services. As all major fires and multiple smaller, run-offs from bigger fires started roughly in the same window period, some speculation was made that arson could have been at play. These claims were rejected by owner of Panther Farm Security, Dudley Waters, who said that a combination of extreme heat, lightning strikes and strong winds contributed to multiple fires flaring up in the district.
“In my opinion, I don’t think there was any arson. There is so much litter, especially glass bottles lying around that heat up and [act as magnifiers for the sun]. Lightning strikes were also reported. I believe it was fires caused by nature and fuelled by weather conditions,” Waters said.
“Our Farm Security WhatsApp group proved to be a powerful resource once again, with the alarm being raised and farmers coming together quickly who managed to step in and hinder the flames, but in the end nature sent the rain that killed the fires.”
The public is requested to report any smoke and or fires to the Ndlambe Fire Services – (046) 604-5525/ 5526 or (046) 624-1111.