Fire fails to stop Kallis
Couple swap vows in midst of devastation
“Baby you light my fire” could become shorthand for cricketer Jacques Kallis and his bride, Charlene Engels‚ after their weekend wedding went ahead‚ despite a wildfire cutting a swathe through the Overberg in the Western Cape.
The pair wed at an estate in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley near Hermanus in an area where fortunately the fire had been contained on Friday. On Saturday‚ Engels said their wedding could go ahead. “My wish for you is that you always keep the ‘fires burning’‚” their wedding planner Nick Nicolaou shared on Instagram‚ seemingly trying to find the positive in what must have been a worrying period for the wedding party. While the bridal party have kept the details private so far‚ Nicolaou revealed this snippet: Over 300 stems of “ice white” hydrangeas from Spain and 200 phalaenopsis orchids from Singapore were flown in for the wedding. Yesterday afternoon‚ the Greater Overberg Fire Protection Association said the wildfire was still being actively fought in the Hermanus area. The association said in its 2pm update that it expected the smoke from the Hemel-enAarde valley and Franskraal to increase. “Currently the fire is spreading between the farms and are threatening homes and infrastructure.
“All residents are informed and their safety is the main concern,” the association said. Resources to combat the fires were being re-diverted and increased as required‚ the group said.
“We are very grateful and appreciative that committed support is still coming in from municipalities from all over the Western Cape to relieve the local teams‚” the association said in an earlier update‚ which described the Franskraal fire as “very challenging with rapidly spreading lines”. –