Smoke hovers over PE as Garden Route fires rage
Large parts of Port Elizabeth were covered in a thick blanket of smoke on Sunday morning as wildfires raged in several towns along the Garden Route.
The smell of smoke hung heavily in the air as the fires – fanned by strong winds – continued to burn for the eighth consecutive day.
The swift spread of the blaze, which originated on the slopes of the Outeniqua Mountains near George, brought tragedy last week to the small Karatara community, where eight people died.
At least 359 firefighters have been deployed to battle the blaze and hundreds of people have been evacuated as one of SA’s biggest fires ever continues to wreak havoc.
On Sunday, the Garden Route District Municipality, which had activated a joint operations centre to co-ordinate fire-fighting operations in the area, said there had been no serious injuries to firefighters thus far.
“Minor injuries include back, ankle [and] instances of firefighters being treated for smoke inhalation,” spokesperson Chumisa Kalawe said.
“On Saturday night, the wind died down but the situation changed again on Sunday morning.
“Firefighters have been required to work tirelessly throughout the night.
“Additional resources have arrived and have been deployed to the high-risk areas.”
Garden Route District Municipality disaster management head Gerard Otto said more than 250 residents were evacuated from towns in the fire’s path as a precaution.
“Those who have been evacuated are from towns in the Goudveld area as well as from Jonkersberg and Buffelsnek,” he said.
Otto said the dense smoke, which reduced visibility, was making it difficult to fight the blaze from the air.
“This is by far the country’s biggest fire to have occurred in a populated area.
“We have more than 85,000 hectares that are burning.
“In last year’s Knysna fire, which was four times smaller than this one, 22,000ha were destroyed.”
He said the fire was at least 35km wide and had a front of more than 180km.
“It is a truly massive fire.” Plumes of thick smoke could be seen from space.
The municipality said crews were attending to high-priority flare-ups through suppression actions, with a focus on the critical areas of Jonkersberg, Noll, Kransbos, Diepwalle and Seven Passes.
The Outeniqua pass was expected to remain open but the Prince Alfred pass between Uniondale and Knysna was closed as a precaution.
The fires have seen entire communities evacuated.
About 150 people from Diepwalle were evacuated by SANParks on Sunday.
Evacuations also took place in Kransbos and Jonkersberg.