Jackie Loos hearkens back to the fire of 1869

BACK in the mists of the past, early humans took a giant step forward when they managed to create and control fire. No one knows for certain when they mastered the skill, but there is a wealth of evidence linking it to our continent.

Experts disagree hotly about dates, so the best we can say is that Stone Age people living in southern Africa probably learnt to control fire and use hearths during the last million years.

This conferred numerous benefits, including warmth, light and defence against predators. It allowed them to cook and preserve food, split stones and harden tools, and clear land prior to hunting and foraging.

Fire enabled splinter groups to evict wildlife from desirable caves or migrate to cooler climates where hunting prospects were better. Nightly gatherings around campfires doubtless facilitated social cohesion, rituals and language development.

Cooked food provided more calories and, being softer, was easier to chew and digest. This is believed to have led to the development of better health, larger brains, smaller teeth and shorter digestive systems.

However, uncontrolled fires can cause great destruction and injury, as the last two weeks have shown. At least 11 people died in the recent Garden Route fires and 79 (as of Monday) in the London highrise blaze disaster.

Wrenching stories arising from the great Southern Cape fire of February 1869 catch something of the prevailing fear and horror.

Thirty people, 3 000 sheep and a great number of cattle died in the Tsitsikamma ward, and a wagon and span of oxen were burnt on the road beyond the Gamtoos River.

Newly gathered crops and haystacks burnt like torches.

Witnesses described the resinous smell that filled the air and the terrible hurricane that carried smoke, fire and sparks: “High overhead flew great sheets and banners of flame, snatched up by the wind and flung from bush to bush, while a fiery shower fell constantly.

“Dense masses of hot and suffocating smoke now came over the village. The sun was as red as fire, and more than one thought the final day of God’s just retribution had arrived.”

Sparks ignited thatched farmstead roofs in an instant and personal safety became the only consideration. “No clothing or bedding could be taken out of the different houses burnt down.

Farmers who were well-to-do on the Monday had no crumb of bread the day after, nor clothing to cover their halfburnt skin.”

There are no firm figures for the number of casualties, but they were probably double or treble the 30 mentioned above.

There was no means of issuing warnings to the inhabitants, who would have monitored the darkening sky with increasing apprehension.