Photo of the St Francis bush fires by Bev Mortimer
By Bev Mortimer
The good news is that more helicopters organised by the National Disaster Centre are on their way to St Francis this evening after this after six days of fires driven by merciless, vicious winds.
The fires, which started last weekend on Saturday lunchtime on Eskom’s nature reserve , claimed no lives, though some firemen have had to be treated for being overcome by smoke fumes. Nor have any homes been burnt in St Francis area itself, however three houses in the neighbouring hamlet of Rebelsrus near Thyspunt, were burned to the ground.
The reinforements to help fight the fires in the form of helicpoters was announced by Kouga Municipality this evening. The municpality says two extra choppers, one from Pretoria and another from Bloemfontein, have been dispatched to the area by the National Disaster Centre. “These have already landed at the Port Elizabeth airport and will be making their way to Kouga in the morning.,” the municpality says.
Working for Fire helicoper arriving with water to douse the flames – Photo by Bev Mortimer
In other fire news the municipality says fire flares have been dampened and the wind has subsided.
“But there are still hot spots on the ground which its teams are attending to,” it says.
The municipality has three choppers in the area and at 7.20 pm this evening one was in the air focusing on hot spots in the Cape St Francis area to prevent flare-ups around the residential area.
New crew members from Working on Fire have arrived and this evening they will be joined by fire fighters from Camdeboo and Blue Crane. These teams will monitor the area throughout the night.
– Edited by St Francis Chronicle
St Francis Chronicle 