Strong winds fan blaze

2003-12-18 18:25

Cape Town - A runaway veld fire threatening Bredasdorp's residential and industrial areas on Thursday afternoon could have been started by an arsonist, the Overberg fire chief said.

"It looks like the fire was started deliberately. It started in the middle of nowhere and for no reason. There were two other fires in the same area the past three days," said Reinhard Geldenhuys.

He said the fire was threatening harvests, farms and farmlands, but fortunately no buildings have been destroyed, despite a "couple of close shaves".

No human injuries were reported, but a number of sheep and other livestock perished.

Firefighters were battling to contain the fire, which was burning across an 18km by 5km front and fanned by strong winds.

Geldenhuys said the fire was burning out of control in places, but should be under control by this evening.

Meanwhile, Western Cape local government spokesperson Jan Bosman said a farm house and outbuildings had been destroyed.

The fire started on Wednesday and flared-up again on Thursday morning and was burning between Bredasdorp and Arniston.

Bosman said the SANDF was requested to assist and two Oryx helicopters were to be dispatched to the area.

An M18 helicopter with water bucket was at the scene, together with 10 water tankers assisting more than 50 firefighters from the Overberg district municipality, members of the Western Cape Nature Conservation service and the defence force.

A fixed-wing reconnaisance aircraft was also assisting, and firefighters from the city of Cape Town and the Boland district municipality was on standby.

- SAPA