Moss firefighters battle George fires
Mossel Bay's Fire and Disaster Management Services firefighters were on Sunday called to support the ongoing firefighting effort in George to safeguard houses in the Denneoord area and, through their help, the fire was contained in the Blanco area after residents of Golden Valley and Step-Aside were evacuated.
Soon thereafter several other residential areas were evacuated, among others the settlements of Bosdorp and Karatara. The deadly fire has claimed the lives of eight people in the Farleigh area near Karatara since it started on Thursday, 25 October in the Herold area.
Pet owners
Pet owners who had to evacuate were left in a quandary as kennels at the SPCA and several pet boarding facilities soon filled up. Heart-wrenching stories were shared on facebook of ordinary people opening their homes to stranded strangers and their pets. Local authorities also warned residents against the dangers of traumatised wildlife and reptiles that may flee the fire only to land up in urban surroundings.
On Saturday and Sunday, favourable weather conditions helped the firefighting operation and backburns were implemented. Resources were allocated and ground teams were put in place to monitor the blaze. Aerial support, a spotter plane, a helicopter, and a fixed-wing bomber were used in fighting the fire that eventually extended over an area of more than 65 000 hectares.
Support
Additional support from firefighters of Working on Fire was called upon and at times as many as 300+ were actively fighting the fire line.
The Outeniqua Pass and Montagu Pass were intermittently closed since Sunday and motorists were at times advised to use the Robinson Pass instead. Early on Tuesday, the stormy wind, however, caused trees to fall across the R328 at Ruiterbos and resulted in all of the mountain passes between the coast in the Mossel Bay/George area and the Klein Karoo to be impassable. Later on Tuesday morning both the Outeniqua Pass and the Robinson Pass were reopened, although extreme caution was advised as mopping up crews were still active in the mountainous areas.
Widespread
Lightning resulted in fires in the Southern Cape spreading from Grootvadersbosch, Garcia Pass, Karatara, Opsoek near Zoar, Jonkersberg in the Mossel Bay area, Ganzekraal and further afield to among others the Kammanassie Mountain and Swartberg Mountains. Fires were also reported in Uniondale, Noll, and Haarlem.
On Tuesday reports were received of fires in the Humansdorp area, and residents of Donkerhoek were evacuated. Eventually the various fires converged and raged over an area of more than 65 000 hectares. Several structures were destroyed, among others radio masts that rendered local radio stations with no broadcasting signal.
Donations
Scores of people in George and the Karatara region, among others were evacuated and local government representatives asked residents to donate to both the firefighting efforts and the many people who have lost everything in the devastating fires.
Mossel Bay residents rallied around the fire victims and several locals, also representatives of the Dana Bay Neighbourhood Watch transported donations to George, Karatara and even as far afield as Plettenberg Bay.
Quite a number of dwellings were destroyed or badly damaged by fire.
"The public is urgently requested to still refrain from recreational hiking on any unofficial hiking trails through plantations. All official hiking trails remain closed by CapeNature until further notice," Garden Route district municipal spokesperson Herman Pieters said. To many residents of especially the greater Knysna area, the fires were a traumatic reminder of 7 June 2017, devastation uppermost in their minds as they battled yet another blaze.