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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Several fires have been raging in the Southern Cape since Tuesday last week.
Despite the fires destroying several hundreds of hectares of vegetation in the areas of Riversdale, Vanwyksdorp, Albertinia, Haelkraal and Great Brak River, fortunately no lives were lost.
A number of buildings were razed in the Albertinia district.
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Once again, as was the case with the devastating fires in 2016/17, Mossel Bay residents responded virtually immediately with donations of fresh water and refreshments.
Although the Mossel Bay Municipality supplied firefighters with rations, the scores of other firefighters such as farmers, farm workers and volunteers, who worked around the clock to contain the blazes, were reliant on the relief aid provided by residents and local organisations.
Hundreds of firefighters from the Department of Environmental Affairs Working on Fire programme assisted the firefighters of the Mossel Bay Fire and Disaster Management Services battling fires along the Garden Route.
Working on Fire spokesperson Lauren Howard said more than 250 firefighters had been despatched to assist the Southern Cape FPA (Fire Protection Association), Cape Nature, the Greater Overberg FPA, private landowners and the Eden District Municipality, at multiple fires across the Southern Cape.
The first vegetation fire was reported on Tuesday last week when firefighters from the Mossel Bay Municipality had to contain a fire that at times threatened houses in Greenhaven.
While they were at this scene, the fire at Haelkraal near Ruiterbos was reported.
Although strictly speaking fires in the rural areas of the Eden District are the sole responsibility of the Eden District Municipality (EDM), Mossel Bay crews had to respond as the EDM firefighters were attending to a fire in the Albertinia district.
The Haelkraal fire at times threatened the Ruiterbos community, yet nobody had to evacuate.
In preparation, the Mossel Bay Municipality made available an emergency shelter in the nearby Brandwag community hall.
Despite the Robinson pass having been closed to traffic on a number of occasions, at the time of going to press no structures were reportedly lost in this fire.
The fire that raged between Riversdale and Albertinia, however, claimed three homesteads in the Herbertsdale area.
According to unconfirmed reports, this fire resulted from an illegal fire that was deliberately started on a farm in the Riversdale area by someone who apparently wanted to dispose of excess waste.
The fire soon spread out of control and eventually across the Langeberg mountain range to both the Vanwyksdorp and Albertinia areas.
Councillor Mark Furness (right) and members of the Mossel Bay Round Table called on residents and businesses in Mossel Bay to follow their example to make generous donations to firefighters.
At times the fire line was in excess of 50 kilometres.
The Robinson mountain pass was closed to traffic on at least two occasions, once when the fire spread across the pass to the Ruiterbos area earlier in the week, and again on Sunday when firefighting teams deliberately made back burns in an effort to contain the fire.
ARTICLE: NICKEY LE ROUX, MOSSEL BAY ADVERTISER NEWS EDITOR
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