Cape Town Fire/Smoke Alert Thread

Oh, if the pictures look 'out of order' - they probably are, I used 2 cameras and they / Flickr arrange things weirdly.
 
I was actually going to pm you to tell you I saw image 3 on the front page of news24 earlier! Nicely done fireman gdiza
 
ChrisJ said:
Great pics gdiza. I see that modis is still showing a number of hotspots around Agulhas.
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Yes I know ChrisJ, but remember, the VWS is affililated or part of SANP (South African National Parks) so we only fight fires within their areas.

Having said that, other organizations (like with Vergelegen) can request us, but I think, if it's really far out, then some sorta arrangement must be made where they pay our petrol/diesel/feed us etc.

I'm not involved in that side of the VWS, I just go when I get a callout and such, but I'm sure there is policies and such involved.

With this most recent fire, I know that we were only told to fight fires within the reserve.
 
Oh my sack thats kewl, never knew such a site existed, Thanks gdiza.
 
Anybody just seen ETV news? Its alleged that someone is starting all these bush fires around CT. Firefighters say they put out one fire and another one starts up and this pattern has been going on for weeks. What kind of an idiot gets a kick out of starting bush fires it baffles me :wtf:

Anway this must be the source of the smoke you guys are seeing!
 
There probably is someone who is starting it... but don't just leave that as the ANSWER... the climate is changing, the heat and such also plays a roll.

If I had to give my opinion, I'd say it's a 70% change of a arsonist who is doing it.

I'd like to blame the weather and such for (30%) alot of the fires but that's my opinion.
 
Police widen search for Overberg arsonist

Police are tracking an arsonist, who strikes soon after firefighters have doused flames, suspected to be behind blazes ravaging areas in the Overberg.

Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said police were investigating a case of arson, and hoped to make an arrest soon.

"We've heard about it and are looking into it urgently. We're investigating the matter seriously," Van Wyk said.

'It must have been like an explosion'
Overberg disaster manager Reinhard Geldenhuys said: "There's definitely an arsonist. There's no doubt about it. Whoever it is has been setting fires the last few weeks, especially this week. As soon as a crew manages to put one out, he lights another one."

He said a fire had allegedly been started on Wednesday last week, straining firefighters who were already fatigued and stretched thin because of blazes in Pearly Beach and in the Buffelsjag area.

"We managed to put them out, but (the alleged arsonist) lights another one an hour later. This time it became really bad."

Geldenhuys said: "(The person behind the fires) is learning new tricks too. He watches us and sees how we battle the fires; perfecting the way he does it."

And while firefighters are busy trying to douse those flames, the South African Weather Service has warned that higher temperatures on Tuesday are expected to aid the spread of runaway fires.

'It was like something out of a horror movie'
The entire Groenlandberg Mountain has been engulfed in flames, threatening farms in the foothills of the mountain in the Elgin Valley and seriously injuring an internationally renowned winemaker.

Paul Cluver, a 68-year-old viticulturist and former neurosurgeon who is the founder of De Rust Wine Estate, sustained third degree burns to his hands, arms and shoulders and second degree burns to parts of his face.

On New Year's Eve Cluver travelled up the mountain slope, hoping to douse flames.

"He walked into the veld and wanted to water the flames from the back, hoping to cut them off. They were blowing away from him," Cluver's wife, Songvei, said.

"He said the wind had turned all of a sudden. It must have been like an explosion, all that hot air in a vortex of sorts."

She said he rolled so as not to ignite his clothes before boarding a bakkie and driving towards a family member, all while his skin swelled from the burns.

"He was fully conscious and we took him to our doctor who put a drip in him and gave him morphine. It was like something out of a horror movie."

She said he was recovering in the Vergelegen Medi-Clinic in Somerset West, and could be home within a week.

"The hair in his ears and nostrils are completely burnt away, and his cheek is incredibly raw. He luckily has some mobility left in his fingers, but parts of his hands looked like tenderised steak."

Ash and cracked earth could be seen in the area, while farm animals skulked over the burnt area.

Geldenhuys said most of the Groenlandberg Nature Reserve was destroyed by the fire.

"It's an ecological disaster. This 15-year-old veld, and species that were practically extinct that were regrown in nurseries, have been completely gutted."

He said firefighters expected the fire to be extinguished by late on Sunday evening.
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The_Librarian said:
sad to see a house burning down

not fun...
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Saw our neighbours house burn down when I was 10. They were away on vacation and something caught fire inside but late one night we were woken by sirens etc and their entire house was engulfed. Was a beautiful place....not nice to watch.
 
Let me just say that I've learnt one thing, next time I get on a site and there is a house on fire, I'm not even going to think twice about it, I'm going to get my "crew leader" to give me 1 or 2 people and I will do my best to save at 'something' from a house...

All the memories gone up in flames, and to many people, it's all they have, is memories.
 
Wonder if they going to blame 'a arsonist' for all those fires... that guy must be in a JET to get from 1 area to another so fast...
 
Fire department seem to think at least one of them is an arsonist. Although I think quite a lot of the fires are down to stupidity like the workers on our property in the drakensberg deciding to burn rubbish on a red day and then wondering why one of their houses burnt down.

http://www.ewn.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=29738
Exhausted firefighters battled soaring temperatures while damping down flames on the Groenlandberg Mountain on Tuesday.

Several fires have been raging in the area near Botriver since Christmas day.

Officials said the most recent fire started a few hours ago after a man was spotted nearby.

Overberg fire chief Reinard Geldenhuys believes the man may be the suspected arsonist who sparked the other fires.

“About two hours ago a man was spotted in the Botriver area. Shortly after that a new fire started in that area, adjacent to where the old fire was. So we’ve got a whole new fire line running up the mountain,” said Geldenhuys.

He added firefighters needed a break.

“The teams are tired; they have been on and off now for almost 14 days. It’s about 40 degrees out there, so they’ve been trying to hold it and contain it.”
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