MBOMBELA – Six pilots of Mpumalanga counted among the hundreds of firefighters who had been fighting the multiple fires which have engulfed huge parts of Cape Town’s South Peninsula since Sunday.
Mr Mark Jackson of Leading Edge Aviation is a well-known local Huey pilot and has been flying for Working on Fire (WoF) since 2007. He has assisted in several rescue missions around the world and has been in the Cape since November. Lowvelder spoke to him yesterday as he took a rest day – exhausted after a very busy week.
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The struggle isn’t over, but we’re winning this,” he said. Jackson added that the Cape has had a very busy fire season and they have had to contain quite a few fires before disaster struck on Sunday. With day temperatures soaring to above 40°C, the fire quickly flared out of control and thousands of hectares were engulfed and many properties destroyed.
“It is a different type of challenge here than we normally face with fires in the Lowveld,” Jackson explained. “Fires in the Lowveld are pretty straightforward to contain. However, the fynbos here in the Cape is totally different,” he added and explained that although it often appeared as if a blaze had been contained, the fire often erupted again through the plants’ root system. “The Cape also has very high winds and visibility is very poor.”
Jackson praised the community for their support. “We have been receiving terrific support from everyone. We would land on school grounds to refuel and teachers and pupils would bring us food and cold drinks. The pupils even made us cards to say thank you. Everybody is very, very kind.”
Several Lowvelders arrived in the Cape this week to partake in the Cape Town Cycle Tour (formerly known as the Argus) on Sunday and some of these cyclists have also visited Jackson and his colleagues to show their support.
“We have been treated like royalty and it’s really special,” Jackson added. He will return to the Lowveld in early May when the Cape’s fire season is over.
Mr Martin Bolton of WoF arrived in the Cape on Wednesday to provide managerial support. Mr Johannes Botha is another pilot of Mbombela currently fighting fires in the Cape. Yesterday, Mr Shane Kirsten of WoF added that 95 per cent of the fires had been contained. “There are currently 100 firefighters working in shifts. We hope to have the rest of the fires contained by the end of the day. We will assess the situation again within the next two hours,” he said at about 12:00.
According to a statement issued by the department of environmental affairs, a total of 200 firefighters fought on the frontlines and this included 150 from WoF as well as an additional 50 from Volunteer Wildlife Services. An additional 250 WoF firefighters have been dispatched from the Free State, Eastern Cape and North West, with a total of 5 000 firefighters around the country on standby.
Four helicopters, two water bombers, and one spotter plane have been up in the air since Sunday. A total of 26 aircraft (11 helicopters, six fixed-wing bombers, and nine spotters) which are based in Tulbagh, Porterville, Donkerhoek, Stellenbosch, Bredasdorp, Stilbaai, Newlands, Plettenberg Bay and Knysna, have been deployed to fight these 11 fires.
At least 198 flying hours have been lodged by WoF, resulting in 2 000 water drops equivalent to about two million litres of water. The cost of the flying hours is currently estimated at R2,4 million.
