Firefighters monitor Garden Route as winds threaten to reignite blaze
[caption id="attachment_208261" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Brenton-on-Sea has been reduced in many parts to nothing as the fire swept through the area last month.
Picture: Eugene Coetzee/The Herald[/caption]
Plettenberg Bay authorities are on high alert after fighting fresh fires that could flare up‚ with strong winds forecast for the Garden Route this weekend.
Firefighters were dousing vegetation fires in Knysna and Plettenberg Bay yesterday. Plettenberg Bay mayoral spokesman Dumisani Mnweba said even though the fire was now contained and did not pose amajor threat‚ the area would be monitored.
“This morning [yesterday] there was a flare-up just 15km outside of Plettenberg in the direction of Knysna. Firefighters are in place and on guard. There was an assessment done on the area at 7am this morning and another assessment will be done‚” he said.
“The major concern is the wind because it is very windy at the moment‚” Mnweba said. Working on Fire (WOF) spokesman Lauren Howard said more than 100 firefighters were deployed along the Southern Cape to fight and monitor several fires that had flared up in the area since Thursday.
These were focused around Knysna, Blanco near George, the Swartberg near Oudtshoorn, Gouritsmond, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. The fires in Knysna included Buffels Bay, Simola and Groenvlei towards Sedgefield, while the Plettenberg Bay fire was in the Uplands area.
Howard said that crews remained on high alert, with a strong south easterly wind predicted for the region from last night and berg winds today.
Southern Cape Fire Protection Association (SCFPA)manager Charl Wade said constant wind direction changes had made it difficult for firefighters to battle the flames. “We ’ve had wind changes every half hour which made it difficult for our ground and aerial crew to control the fire yesterday morning. The situation, however, looks good as the fires have been contained.
“We have two helicopters from SAVANAH [helicopter company] that are assisting with flare-ups,” Wade said.
The Knysna Municipality indicated that the fires in Knysna did not pose any danger to life nor property as they had mainly been burning in already burnt-out areas.
A month ago a huge blaze cut a swathe of destruction along the Garden Route‚ destroying tourist establishments‚ affecting an estimated 2 500 jobs and burning 846 homes in Knysna alone. Seven people perished.
