Two raging wildfires in opposite corners of the Garden Route are burning out of control, with efforts being beefed up to stop them spreading.
The fires – both described as massive – are raging in the Tsitsikamma area bordering the Garden Route National Park and the Vermaaklikheid area of the Western Cape.
The national park was forced to close the popular Otter Trail and evacuate eight hikers after the fire jumped into the park – affecting the secondday section of the five-day hiking trail.
The Nelson Mandela Bay fire department said it had been inundated with calls from residents in the morning about the smoke hovering over the metro, which is believed to be from the Tsitsikamma area fire – almost 160km away.
“Since 4am [on Wednesday], the control room has been alerted to smoke around the Bay,” an official said.
“Several fire vehicles were sent out to assess various areas, but no fire was found.
“It is suspected that this smoke is travelling from the Tsitsikamma area.”
Officials said the Vermaaklikheid fire was still heading in the direction of Stilbaai, but was 60% contained.
The Vermaaklikheid fire – which is about 50km from Riversdale – started on Sunday following unconfirmed reports of an Eskom powerline fault.
The fire has razed nine houses so far, destroyed cellphone towers and a large area of wildlife grazing, and damaged fences.
Working on Fire pilot Nico Heyns, 65, was killed in a helicopter crash about 40km from Riversdale on Tuesday while attempting to douse the flames.
Officials estimate that 500km² of land has been damaged by the blaze.
Fire-fighting efforts continued throughout Tuesday night, with the SA Air Force bringing in another helicopter to assist, and the Western Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre roped in by Wednesday.
Resources have since increased to two fixed-wing bomber planes, a spotter plane, about 140 firefighters and almost 30 fire-fighting trucks and vehicles. The destroyed cellphone towers are hampering communication between emergency workers.
Overberg municipality fire chief Reinhard Geldenhuys, who is spearheading the operation, said two of the nine houses had been razed in the last 24 hours.
Garden Route district municipality spokesperson Herman Pieters said the main objectives were to prevent loss of life and limit the economic impact of the wildfire.
“During the night [Tuesday], a huge area was burnt out to make the area safe.”
He said the fire-fighting teams were battling in extremely hot conditions.
The fire in the Lottering plantation in Storms River was still moving rapidly at midday.
The plantation area is owned by MTO Forestry, which owns several pine plantations between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.
Forestry officials on the scene said about 200 firefighters, on a rotational shift, had been battling the blaze since 2pm on Tuesday.
“We have worked throughout the night.
“We have teams on the ground fighting the fire, but it is extremely hot and still out of control,” he said.
Kok said a preliminary assessment on the fire’s footprint showed that an estimated 6km² of plantation had been burnt.
“It is heading in a westerly direction [towards Plettenburg Bay].”
The plantation borders the national park, sparking fears it would spread into the park.
Park spokesperson Nandi Mgwadlamba said most of the park remained unaffected.
“This [fire] is in a fynbos patch and not indigenous forest area.
“So our resources are split between helping our neighbours [MTO] to extinguish the fire in the plantation and evacuating hikers through escape routes on the Otter Trail,” she said.
Mgwadlamba said the Storms River Rest Camp was not affected at this point.
She said it was too early to determine when the Otter Trail would be reopened.