‘Ja‚ it’s a bit of a thing‚ but we will rebuild’‚ says victim who lost his home in devastating Knysna fires

The 40-year-old is one of thousands of Knysna residents who watched as their beautiful holiday town went up in flames.

Rademeyer and several others wondered aimlessly through the ruins as a dark blanket of smoke hung over the area on Thursday.

He had been living on Essendale farm for three years and in a matter of hours his home was no more.

"Ja‚ it’s a bit a of thing‚ but we will rebuild‚'' said Rademeyer who struggled to express himself.

It will take time. Neighbourhoods have turned into horror scenes from the pages of a post-apocalyptic novel.

Telephone lines have been cut‚ there are power outages‚ cellphone signals are patchy. People's faces tell a story of a hard night wrestling a fire that they might have underestimated or did not see coming. It sent families fleeing into the night to seek refuge at churches and yacht clubs.

Shane and Lesly-Ann Leech and their 12-year-old now call the angling club home. Lesly-Ann and her daughter were at home on Wednesday when a small fire threatened their home. Within a matter of minutes they managed to escape but not without the torture of watching it burn to the ground.