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A school and an orphanage were evacuated yesterday when a huge fire in the Tulbagh area came close to their buildings. More than 200 pupils from the Steinlicht Skills School and 150 children in the Stenthal Child and Youth Centre in Tulbagh were escorted to a nearby field, from where they watched as residents of the Boland town joined scores of firefighters in a battle to control the fire, which flared up yesterday afternoon. “They are expected back in their rooms later,” said Robin Furniss, head of the Steinthal Child and Youth Centre orphanage. Two fires had raged through the area since Saturday. Four fire department helicopters and three fixed-wing aircraft, as well as three fire engines, helped to fight the fire. Working On Fire spokeswoman Leanne Mckrill said that by late last night the fires were under control. “We have withdrawn all of our air emergency services as they were no longer needed. “However, they will be on standby. Three of our teams will monitor the borders of the fire throughout the night,” she said. Mckrill said the cause of the fire was still unknown, but police would be investigating. Weather conditions in the area had been conducive to fires. Temperatures had reached the high 20s and 30s, she said. “This is the most serious fire in the area in the past 10 years,” said Pieter Mouton, Cape Winelands SAPS spokesman.
Tulbagh resident Adele Oschmann estimated the damage to her property at nearly R180 000. Approximately 1.7 hectares of her vineyards had been destroyed. “It sounded like a hurricane coming towards our home. All the grapes in our vineyard were destroyed, but we were not evacuated,” she said. Oschmann, a volunteer with Cape Nature Conservation, said she believed that the fynbos in the area would grow back after the fire, except one protea indigenous to the area. “The shy rose protea is very rare, and I don’t know if it will survive a fire this big.” Many of the households affected by the fire said that the community rallied together to help them. All the residents who were evacuated from their homes on Tuesday have since returned and have began cleaning all the ash and debris from their furniture. Nico Theron, 78, suffered a loss he said he would never be able to replace. Seven of his sheep were killed in the fire. “I am completely devastated. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life and I hope I never will see anything like it again,” he said, fighting back tears. Angela and Werner Oelbuttel evacuated their home on Monday evening just before the fire destroyed the entire back wall of the house. They estimated the cost of repairs to be close to R250 000. “I was extremely frightened, but most of the community members came to help us. That’s the nice thing about living in a small town,” Angela Oelbuttel said. One couple, Jean and Anne Marie Kotze, rescued animals. in the area.
- RSOE EDIS
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