Wilderness a sitting duck

GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - As a scorching hot berg wind fanned the fire that engulfed four Wilderness homes on Thursday 11 August, barely leaving the families time to flee, not a single fire engine was in sight.

Residents agonised as the inferno wreaked havoc burning everything in its path to a cinder. Gusts of up to 48 kph fanned the flames from the southern slopes of Hoekwil cutting a swathe through the reeds in Serpentine Wilderness lakes valley, jumping the Hoekwil road and sweeping onto the homes.

Only ill-equiped firefighters on foot, one helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft were sent to fight the fires.

The dry weather conditions and strong winds which accompanied the run-away fires resulted in firemen being stretched to their limits to attend to fires throughout the George, Mossel Bay and Knysna districts. In the wake of the devastating fire, there is general agreement that more should be done to create a state of readiness to prevent or cope with such disasters.

Eden District Municipality's Head of Disaster Management Gerhard Otto says there is a definite need to increase capacity for firefighting in Wilderness. Residents like Peter and Shannon Woodliffe who lost their home, couldn't agree more and say the district simply has a dire shortage of firemen.

Speaking on behalf of residents in Lakes Road and Third Avenue, Chris Nightingale said on Tuesday that plans for building a fire station in Kleinkrantz should be resurrected. "The construction of a helipad in Hoekwil is a necessity."

He added that the lack of coordination between local firefighting authorities showed up on Thursday. "What we need in future is for one local authority to take charge and direct firefighting efforts to deploy manpower effectively from a joint operations centre."

After touring the affected areas on Saturday to assess the damage,George Executive Mayor elect, Melvin Naik, expressed sympathy with residents who lost their homes. Accompanied by Municipal Manager, Trevor Botha and George Fire Chief, Barend Nelson, he said the municipality intends to put measures in place to safeguard against runaway fires.

Botha confirmed that a debriefing session will be held with all the authorities in the jurisdictional area to discuss and assess measures that must be put in place to safeguard against such disasters. The Eden District Municipality as well as SANParks and other affected parties will be involved in these discussions.

One of the homes that burnt down in Lakes Road in Wilderness on Thursday. There was no ground support for the helicopter that fought valiantly to put out the fires. All fire engines had been dispatched elsewhere to fires elsewhere. Photo: Supplied

Valiant

While Nightingale and Woodliffe conceded that local firefighters fought valiantly, there were things that pointed at 'rank amateurism'. One example is the Sedgefield Fire Services bakkie that arrived without water.

On Thursday, local artist Peter Pharoah ignored the intense heat while desperately fighting to keep the fire at bay by cutting down trees and shrubs on the borders of his property. He ignored the burn blisters on his feet and a wooden splinter in his head. But in the end it was mission accomplished as he saved his family home from the fire which came within metres. His wife Tracy said: "We were determined not to lose a property to fire again."

Their Wilderness gallery burnt down a few years ago. Their neighbours, Adv André Knoetzen and his wife Sineke were not so fortunate. Their two cats died, as their house burnt down. Adv Knoetzen said a light point in the doom and gloom is the goodwill displayed by friends like the Krugers of Wilderness who offered him and his wife a place to bed down for the night. he also praised the brave fire fighters and helicopter pilot Nico Heyns who fought to save lives in poor visibility.

A family home in 3rd Avenue also went up in flames. Manny and Stephanie Jorge lost everything in the fire that engulfed their rented home. The pair were at home as the fire neared and realizing it couldn't be stopped, they packed up a few essentials, grabbed their pets and rushed out.

"It was like a war zone, there were helicopters water bombing, the heat was incredibly intense. Everything went so quickly," said Manny. Residents were amazed at the speed of the fire. "When we looked again, everything was going up in flames in the backyard," said Stephanie.

Brick and Fred Bradford also lost their home.

Fighting fires on all fronts

George Municipality's Media Liaison manager Chantel Edwards-Klose explained how stretched the fire men were on Thursday. "A total of 25 fire call-outs were received by the George Control Centre for various fires in the George Municipal area on 11 August. Eden Fire Services assisted with eight different fires in the district, with Knysna Fire services fighting fires in Hornlee; Mosselbay Fire Services in Ruitersbos, Dana Bay and Freimersheim; and Oudsthoorn Fire Services at Moras Rivier and Lategaans Vlei.

"The fire at Bitou Road, Hoekwil was reported at around 14:00 to the George Control Centre but initially there was no immediate danger to the houses reported. At the time all fire personnel and resources were already deployed to the various fires in the area.

Read the entire detailed municipal statement here.

Suggestions and complaints

Speaking on behalf of residents in Lakes Road Woodliffe and Nightingale this week said fire prevention and the readiness to combat run-away fires in Wilderness should be completely re-examined. The two men raised some issues and asked for them to be given serious attention:

Click here for a complete list of these issues.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly: Opportunists flocked down to Lakes Road

The disastrous fire brought out best and the worst in human behaviour say residents in Lakes Road Wilderness who had the opportunity to witness this first hand.

One "salvager" arrived in his bakkie over the weekend, and stopped in the driveway at the burned down home of Peter Woodliffe and started inspecting the debris to see what he could take.

Woodliffe who was astonished at this audacity challenged the man who was reluctant to leave and kept on insisting he wanted salvageable building material. During the night some copper taps disappeared said the incensed homeowner.

Then there were rubber neckers who came to do some sight seeing and were seen taking selfies in front of the ravaged homes. In the process they caused a traffic jam and made it difficult for emergency vehicles and the homeowners who wanted to evacuate to leave.

On the other side of the scale there was a big deal of good neighbourliness in Wilderness during the fire with neighbours rushing around to help dampen down thatched roofs. Residents helping each other load valuables into their cars.This left a good taste in the mouth.

Watch a video by John Dickens of the aftermath in Hoekwil / Wilderness area:

An insurance assessor photographs the remains of one of the four homes burnt down.

Heroic Heyns

There is general agreement that the helicopter pilot Nico Heyns was one of the heroes of the day. Residents who had a chance to look up from their relentless firefighting efforts observed him making trip after trip scooping water from the lake and bombarding the burning reeds as well as the homes in the direct line of fire.

On surveying Lakes Road one cannot help but feel that it was miraculous that so many homes were saved. He was ably assisted by a fixed wing aircraft that directed him throughout the Thursday afternoon. Tracy Pharoah said she was trying to escape from her Third Avenue home, but was faced with a driveway lined with burning palm trees. She was very scared to brave the flames, when she suddenly felt a blast of water from Heyns helicopter.

She then had the opportunity to make her escape.

Heyns's task was made extremely difficult by the strong wind and dense smoke. It costs about R27 000 per hour to keep a firefighting chopper in the air.

Click here for a photo gallery.

In the aftermath of the devastating fire Chris Nightingale (right) has written a report to the mayor and to the municipal manager in which they detail immediate steps that must be taken to prevent run-away fires from claiming lives and properties in Wilderness. With Chris is Peter Woodliffe who lost his home in Thursday 11 August blazing fire that swept through Wilderness west of Island Lake.

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