As the sun set over the Kouga area on Thursday evening, the sky remained illuminated with an ominous glow from the massive fires that engulfed the region as emergency services and volunteers geared up to fight throughout the night.
In scenes reminiscent of 2016, fires destroyed infrastructure and grasslands, and brought traffic to a standstill on the province’s busiest road on Thursday.
Strong winds and dry alien vegetation fuelled three separate fires as they consumed farmlands and infrastructure despite a valiant and desperate battle by firefighters and farmers.
Zwartenbosch behind Humansdorp, farms between St Francis Bay and Paradise Beach and the Kabeljauws River area were all ablaze in the afternoon, with dozens of residents forced to evacuate.
Though no injuries or loss of life had been reported by the time of publication, and damages were still being assessed, the municipality confirmed several houses had been lost.
By night-time, progress had been made in containing the fire between the Kromme River and Paradise Beach, which was under control by sunset.
The deployment of a helicopter, which arrived from the Garden Route after a busy shift in fighting the recent Mossel Bay fires, played a significant role in assisting teams to bring the inferno in the Kromme River area under control.
On Thursday night, the main area of concern was Smithtown in the Kabeljauws River area.
The N2 between Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp was also forced to close due to the massive plumes of smoke severely affecting visibility by the afternoon, with traffic being redirected along the R102.
Travelling through various sections of the region illustrated the extent of the fire, with hundreds of hectares of earth scorched and locals anxiously watching as the blaze moved toward the coastal towns.
Fires have been burning in the area since Tuesday, with firefighters and volunteers exhausted but filled with courage and determination.
Kouga mayor Hattingh Bornman said the severity of the situation had necessitated evacuations on Thursday afternoon.
“Residents along the R330, Oyster Bay Road and the surrounding farming areas including Kromme River and Riverside as well as Twin Valley and Smithtown were evacuated,” he said.
Leizl Clause, from the Kouga municipality disaster management team, said that no injuries had been reported so far due to the evacuations.
“This does take me back to the 2016 fires where we had to go through the same thing.”
Clause said a number of homes had been lost but an exact tally was yet to be confirmed.
“The good news is that we arranged a helicopter from Working On Fire from the Western Cape to come and assist.”
The helicopter arrived at sunset and began dropping water onto the flames surrounding farmhouses.
The most heavily affected areas were farmlands, with hundreds of hectares burned.
Farmer AP Koch said he was worried about the future as a result of the damaged land.
“The concern is the grazing and the fodder, everything is on the brink,” he said.
“It’s very dry at this time of the year so once the fire has come through there is nothing left.”
Volunteers from the NSRI were also on the scene to assist the teams.
Milk and sanitation trucks were being filled with water in a bid to help in the efforts.
A statement released by the Kouga municipality confirmed that electricity supply to St Francis Bay and Jeffreys Bay had been disrupted and the ongoing fires had made it unsafe for Eskom teams to access the affected areas.
Firefighting teams were closely monitoring the situation and had prioritised resources for this area.
The situation comes as blazes raged through coastal towns during the course of the week.
On Tuesday, runaway wildfires spread through Nelson Mandela Bay, resulting in the temporary closure of parts of the N2.
Dozens of emergency workers and volunteers worked side by side to fight infernos that engulfed 10m-tall trees and threatened properties.
Meanwhile, on the Garden Route, fire chief Deon Stoffels said on Thursday morning the fire danger index was high and crews remained fully deployed in the Mossel Bay suburbs of Aalwyndal, Island View, Vakansieplaas and nearby sections of the N2.
Several vehicles and structures were reportedly damaged by the blaze, which at one point threatened nearby homes while residents were placed on evacuation alert.
The Herald
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