GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Residents of Langvlei Dunes, a housing estate bordering the beautiful Langvlei, are lucky to have escaped serious damage to their properties when a fire broke out on the morning of Wednesday 7 January.
"I noticed smoke across the vlei and wondered why anybody would be burning rubbish this time of the year," said Langvlei resident Jan Potgieter. He immediately pointed out the fire to his fiancé, who alerted emergency services. "Not long afterwards the first fire truck approached from the direction of Sedgefield, followed by the SANParks rangers and the Eden District Fire Department. When the Working on Fire (WoF) chopper flew overhead I knew that there was a better chance of the fire being contained," said Potgieter.
Grant Easton, Knysna acting municipal manager, said that although the Sedgefield Fire Department had responded to the fire, they withdrew because Eden District Municipality and George Municipality's fire services had already arrived on the scene. "The fire was not in our area of jurisdiction," said Easton.
Harold Basson, acting municipal manager for George, said that George Fire Services received a call at 11:15 and were the first to arrive on the scene. "Upon arrival it was found that the fire was spreading rapidly," said Basson.
"On arrival at the scene the George Fire Department was fighting a fire line very near to wooden homes," said Gerhard Otto, manager of Eden District Municipality's emergency services.
"A request was then put through to the WoF Sedgefield team asking that their team be utilised on the fire line as vehicle access to the various fire lines was limited due to the lack of roads," said Otto.
Otto further explained that the southerly breeze had slowly moved the fire in a northerly direction. "It was contained primarily to the underbrush and not to the aerial fuels. Once the WoF helicopter arrived, supported by a fire spotter plane, they managed to stop the spread of the fire and contain it.
"Only a hectare of Garden Route National Park land was burnt and rangers withdrew when it was determined that the fire did not pose a threat to the park," said Nandi Mgwadlamba, SANParks communications manager.
She added that the WoF and Eden District Municipality firefighters stayed at the scene due to the threat on private land and the "infestation of invasive alien species and a lot of wooden structures in the area".
By 13:30 the fire was declared safe and mopping up operations began. "Later in the afternoon relief firefighters were brought in to continue with mopping up operations throughout the night," said Otto. The following morning (8 January), all firefighters left. The SANParks rangers were sent to the scene the following day to do an inspection and to mop up.
According to Otto, the fire started on private property and burnt over an area of some 2ha. "The cause of the fire is not yet determined."
Otto warned that the area of Langvlei Dunes "poses a very serious risk to the residents and firefighters, should there be a fire with ideal conditions.
"It would be in the best interest of all parties (landowners and fire services) to address the various risks at Langvlei Dunes before it is too late.
"Firefighters stayed at the scene due to the threat on private land and the infestation of invasive alien species and a lot of wooden structures in the area."
Gerhard Otto, Eden District Municipality's manager of emergency services, warned residents of Langvlei Dunes (Wilderness/Kleinkranz area) about the dangers of the lack of fire breaks and presence of alien vegetation.
ARTICLE: FRAN KIRSTEN - KNYSNA/PLETT HERALD
