Evacuation plans and communication under fire

Earlier activation, better communication and more resources. These are some of the issues raised during the Garden Route District Municipality’s special council meeting on Tuesday.

Garden Route fire chief Freddy Thaver said the situation in Rheenendal (at the time on Tuesday morning) was critical, with fire spreading rapidly, and that the community would need to be evacuated.

Visiting Knysna DA ward councillor for Rheenendal, Eleanor Bouw-Spies, said there was total confusion on the ground. She helped to evacuate more than 200 people from the Rheenendal area on Monday evening. They were taken to places in Brenton-on-Sea and Hornlee. She said there were many conflicting reports about what was happening.

“The community, as I’m sitting here, is sending me pictures of what is happening, and that concerns me,” said Bouw-Spies. “On the other hand, officials on that side are now willing to send back the very same people to Rheenendal that we evacuated last night, while there is pandemonium in Rheenendal. I am very upset because I do not think there is proper coordination or communication, which causes confusion and panic because people do not know.”

Garden Route director of community services Clive Africa pointed out that the responsibility for disaster management lies with the local municipalities. ‘Not one of the local municipalities has evacuation plans... There is not capacity at local municipal level to coordinate disaster management at local municipal level.’

Africa highlighted the stark realities they are dealing with. “If there is a lightning strike in Wilderness or Herold, 20 houses could be lost within 20 minutes. That is what we saw in Knysna – one house per minute. There are no guarantees. We can only play a supportive role,” he said. Thaver said while fires threaten the houses, the smoke makes the atmosphere unbreathable. “If you can’t breathe somewhere, you can’t live there,” he said. “That’s why we recommended that the people (in George) move out. And they moved out en masse from Blanco, Heather Park, Denneoord and Glen Barrie.”

Garden Route disaster manager Gerhard Otto confirmed Africa’s statement that the evacuation of an area is done by the local municipality, not the district municipality. “Not one of the local municipalities has evacuation plans. We developed an evacuation plan for George on Sunday evening. Mr Steven Erasmus and his team were here. And that worked on Monday morning. So there is a gap, and why is there a gap? There is not capacity at local municipal level to coordinate disaster management at local municipal level.” Comment regarding this matter is being awaited from the Knysna and George municipalities. Otto said that fire, traffic and disaster management all resort under the same department (protection services). “So where do you put your efforts during this? That is where this goes wrong.”

ANC chief whip Piet van der Hoven mentioned the scope of fake news that is going around, doing a lot of damage. “Panic makes things 10 times worse,” he said. DA councillor Rowan Spies said more joint operational centres are needed throughout the district. “This is the start of the fire season. Who knows what will happen next,” he said.

“We are a burning district,” said Booysen. He thanked everybody in the Garden Route and Cape Winelands for their help during this disaster. Booysen and fellow councillors conveyed condolences to the family of Nico Heyns, the helicopter pilot who died in Vermaaklikheid, and to the family of those who have lost their lives in the most recent fires in Karatara.