As firefighters continued to battle small fires in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday‚ volunteers who went out on Tuesday night to help total strangers beat back the flames threatening to engulf their homes‚ told of the searing heat‚ and their fear – but also the exhilaration.
Armed with just about anything that held water‚ hundreds of firefighters and volunteers braved thorny terrain‚ cutting through barbed wire and fences in a desperate bid to stop one of the worst fires the city has seen in years.
Others helped evacuate the elderly‚ children and animals‚ including horses‚ from farms in the Lorraine area.
A number of homes in the Theescombe area were still without electricity yesterday due to damaged overhead power lines which‚ according to Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality spokesman Kupido Baron‚ were in the process of being fixed.
Shortly before noon‚ a fire in Sunridge Park had jittery residents on high alert before the flames were doused and the fire brought under control.
Residents whose homes were saved called those who had worked tirelessly into the night on Tuesday heroes.
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– TMG Digital/The Herald
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