Inferno right on suburbia's doorstep

As fires raged through Somerset West and the Hottentots-Holland mountains, residents from affected areas jumped in to help firefighters who were hard at work trying to control the blaze.

Among these residents was Diwaan Blom, 24, from Sir Lowry's Pass Village, who fought the flames with a bluegum branch.

Justin Sullivan
SAFE AND SOUND: Humans and animals were evacuated while neighbourhood groups mobilised to deliver supplies to firefighters and assist with evacuation operations

Yesterday Blom woke up to thick smoke enveloping his village and saw volunteers from the community heading to the front line of the blaze.

"I thought I might as well keep busy - I'm not working, you see. I wanted to make a contribution."

Justin Sullivan
TOO HOT TO HANDLE: Residents of Somerset West and neighbouring areas fought to contain the blaze that destroyed several properties

Blom said he had now found his purpose in life and wanted to become a firefighter.

Blom lives alone after his mother died and his father went to prison.

He was roped in by the firefighters who saw him fighting the flames and asked him to carry a fire hose and extinguish any smouldering debris.

"If I'm still fit, I'll help into the night," he said with a smile, as sweat and ash ran down his cheeks.

(Justin Sullivan Photography)
HEART OF THE BLAZE: Firefighters battled the fire with Weather SA warning that high winds and dry conditions would persist

The fires damaged 40% of Vergelegen, one of the oldest and most prestigious wine estates in the country.

Vergelegen CEO Don Tooth said some of the vineyards had been destroyed. Almost two-thirds of the farm was a conservation area for fynbos rehabilitation and much of it had been ravaged by the fire.

"It's taken us about 12 years to get where we are in weeding out alien vegetation.

RUVAN BOSHOFF
IN CHECK: Firefighters douse veld fires in the Vergelegen area where parts of the historic Vergelegen wine estate were burnt. Picture: RUVAN BOSHOFF
 

"Obviously when a fire runs through, it germinates alien seeds as well as fynbos seeds, and we have to go back in there and weed by hand to get rid of any alien vegetation that comes up again, which is hugely labour-intensive."

The Pat Cavendish O'Neill Sanctuary, a primate sanctuary near Sir Lowry's Pass, was forced to release 38 vervet monkeys, four baboons and several dogs as the flames closed in.

Sanctuary owner Pat O'Neill, 91, said: "I didn't want them to be killed. And it would have been too difficult to take them in my car."

BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY: Diwaan Blom of Sir Lowry’s Village grabbed bluegum branches to help fight the blaze Picture: RUVAN BOSHOFF

But the animals made their way back to the sanctuary yesterday, some with the help of Good Samaritans in the area.

"The baboons stayed on the roof and the vervets went off and came back again. And the dogs were all rescued," O'Neill said.

WATER DROP: Three helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft were dispatched to douse the flames that threatened residential areas Picture: JUSTIN SULLIVAN

Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Theo Layne said 120 firefighters were being assisted by crews from Working on Fire and CapeNature.

He said 22 vehicles, three helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft had been dispatched in an attempt to douse the inferno.

"Seven residential properties have been damaged. And Bezweni Lodge main building has been completely destroyed," Layne said.