Hundreds of Mossel Bay residents had been evacuated from their homes by Tuesday evening as a wildfire spread through the area, engulfing everything in its path.
And while Wednesday saw most residents return home after valiant firefighting efforts saw the blaze contained in most areas, barring the farming area adjacent to Aalwyndal, the aftermath of the inferno was evident.
The municipality is counting the cost of the damage which destroyed several structures and saw three firefighters sustaining injuries, with one hospitalised for smoke inhalation.
A woman in Vakansieplaas was also injured.
The fire originated on a farm next to the N2, in the direction of Cape Town, on January 5, and was fuelled by the weather, including strong to gale-force winds and inaccessible terrain, resulting in its rapid spread to Aalwyndal, Island View and Vakansieplaas by Tuesday.
Traumatised resident Shane Jansen from Island View said while they knew there was a fire they didn’t realise its severity.
“Until I saw my neighbour walk past my balcony and look up at the sky, and I just saw his whole body glowing orange. Then we knew it was quite bad.
“I drove to the top of the street and realised the fires were right here.
“If the fire had jumped the road and set the blocks of flats on fire, we would have been blocked in. So we decided to evacuate, but some of the people decided to stay to protect their properties, and pulled out a hose pipe.”
He said the community rallied to ensure everyone remained safe.
“We had to mobilise as a community and help a couple of older people around us. We told them they’d better just get in their cars and go, and my wife left with the dogs.
“I had to stay behind to direct traffic out of the street and help out,” he said.
Jansen has since returned to his Island View home.
By 5pm on Wednesday, the municipality said multi-agency firefighting was continuing in Aalwyndal and surrounds, involving volunteers, Working on Fire, and Mossel Bay and Garden Route fire crews.
“A feedback meeting was held at the joint operations centre at 4pm to share updates. A report back was done by chief fire officer Deon Stoffels from the Garden Route district fire services.
“CFO Stoffels reported that the fire was not spreading and that mop-up operations were under way in several areas.”
In the statement, the municipality said wind gusts and inaccessible terrain were complicating the containment of the fire.
“Aerial firefighting resources were deployed, strengthening containment efforts. Precautionary evacuations have been implemented in Aalwyndal, where elderly residents and nursing staff were moved to the ATKV resort in Hartenbos.”
The Garden Route SPCA was up all night, evacuating animals to a place of safety and looking for stranded animals.
“The team is still out in the streets and constantly communicating with locals, urging the public to inform them should they identify any animals that appear distressed.”
The Gift of the Givers Foundation’s Mario Ferreira said they had deployed a team of six volunteers.
“We are providing relief items to the firefighters. SAPS, volunteers who are helping, the traffic officers and others. I’m on my way to buy food to take to a home that was evacuated,” he said.
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