Fires that have been raging in the Overberg since Monday continued to burn out of control on Wednesday, destroying five buildings at an upmarket resort and coming dangerously close to homes in the Gansbaai area.
Overberg fire chief Reinard Geldenhuys confirmed that one ”big building” and four chalets on the 1 700ha Grootbos private nature reserve outside the town had burned down.
Grootbos owner Michael Lutzeyer said shortly after 5pm that he had managed to reach one of two lodges on the property, and it was undamaged.
”The other lodge — we haven’t got there yet, it’s all smoke,” he said.
Grootbos and a section of Die Kelders, a residential area on the coast just north of Gansbaai, were evacuated earlier in the day as the flames approached.
Geldenhuys said the fire, which started near Elim on Monday afternoon, was burning on a continuous front of 40km.
”In a lot of places it’s still out of control. There’s a lot of lines we’re leaving to the farmers to look after. Obviously we’re concentrating on the houses and the towns,” he said.
A Gansbaai police officer, who declined to be named, said the fire, which was being driven by gale-force winds, came near enough to Die Kelders homes to melt the plastic gutters of two or three houses before water-bombing helicopters saved the day.
”The fire was very close,” she said.
At 5pm, a helicopter was still busy in the area, she said.
”They are still working in the area, but houses and people are currently out of danger. It is still burning in places in the bushes.”
Die Kelders resident Alec Kitley said three water-bombing South African Air Force Oryxes and a civilian helicopter from Cape Town had proved a ”godsend”.
”Across the R43 towards the hills at the back of us it’s flaming up every five minutes and the chopper’s doing its nut to contain that,” he said late on Wednesday afternoon.
Gerhard Kotze, who runs a bed and breakfast in Die Kelders, said earlier as the fire threatened the houses: ”We have visibility of about 200m here, upwards, downwards, sideways.
”We can hardly see the sun if we look straight at it, and nobody knows what’s happening. At this stage the whole of Die Kelders is covered in thick smoke.”
Working on Fire spokesperson Val Charlton said three South African Air Force Oryx helicopters and an Alouette, plus a Working on Fire chopper, had fought the blaze during the day.
Three Working on Fire teams — from Graskop in Mpumalanga, and from Swellendam and Vrolikheid in the Western Cape — had been deployed in addition to local firefighters, and a team based in Stutterheim was on standby for Thursday.
An Overberg flower buyer said the fires will have a disastrous effect on the wildflower industry in the region.
”It’s devastating to say the least,” said Annemarie Goosen, of Honingklip Dry Flowers. ”It’s really bad for the industry.”
Among the areas affected by the fire is one burned only three years ago, which means there will be no seed in the veld for regeneration.
Species that flourish in the region include relatively slow-growing proteas and leucadendrons, which have been ”totally burned off” in the areas hit by the blaze.
”Proteas start flowering in April and May, so you won’t have any production this year,” she said. ”It takes a minimum of five years before it comes back in production, depending on the drought and if you get rain.
”But if there’s no seed in the veld, you won’t have anything coming up.”
There are some farmers who rely totally on the wildflower industry, she said. Ninety-nine percent of Honingklip’s production goes to the export market.
She did not know how many hectares had been burned.
”People are still trying to kill fires, and telephone lines are off, so it’s very difficult to say.” — Sapa