The fire in our midst

Today the wind is blowing - thank goodness only today and not a few days ago when the mountain fire was at its worst. It started on Wednesday 17 March - some say squatters, some say arson - but whatever it was, nobody realised it would take five days to vent its fury on our little coastal community.

Stories abound of people who had their precious belongings squeezed into their cars, dogs, cats, and even birds. One woman had no space for the parrot, so wrapped the cage in wet towels and left it in the kitchen sink, hoping for the best as she movedout of her threatened home to stay with friends in a safer haven.
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Children being ferried from school in Hermanus had to go via Sir Lowry's Pass through Rooi Els, Pringle Bay and Betty's Bay to reach Kleinmond as the fire wreaked havoc on the R44 which was closed. A day or two later the fire had swung across the back of the mountain and was then close to Rooi Els and Gordon's Bay - and Clarence Drive was closed. Kleinmond came in for its share too, when the fire swept across Hanneshoek, Jean's Hill and came close to the golf course.

Luckily for property owners, not a house was lost though the fire came close. More sadly though one fireman lost his life. Being dog tired, after nearly five days of relentless fire-fighting he lay down to sleep a little too close to the fire engines, and when they were once again called to respond to yet another emergency, he did not hear the call and the fire engine drove over him. How terribly sad this was. Another fire-fighting volunteer lost the soles of his shoes and was gamely trying to get about on blistered feet. A local resident helped by getting ice from the local golf course to ease the pain of this poor man.

Helicopters raced back and forth with water buckets dropping their cargo on sky high flames. Rumour has it that had they worked a half an hour longer on the Friday then the fire could have been contained that day. But who knows how tired these men were. After three days I am sure they needed some rest too.

When it was all over by Sunday, everyone was exhausted. Our blackened mountain will recover no doubt. We were lucky in so many, many ways. Help came from far afield, even Cape Town sent its crews to assist. Locals rallied around with food and sustenance. Fire-fighters and volunteers - we salute you.