On Monday the 18th January 2009 Sanbona Wildlife Reserve and all its Staff and Guests woke up to the sight of smoke hanging over the Reserve. The Wildlife Department mobilized to ascertain where the fire was and if there was any help we could offer.
Both the Swartberg and Langeberg were ablaze, with Sanbona sandwiched right in the middle… The Fires were still high up in the Langeberg and various teams from as far as Graskop in Mpumalanga was on site to help where they could. We learnt that the fire had crossed over and was closing in on the R62 which leads from Montagu to Barrydale, the fire was approximately 17km from the Reserve.
We deployed a team with a water cart to start assisting the neighboring farmers. The Wildlife Department was all too aware of how quickly this fire could reach Sanbona should it jump the R62, as the wind had turned direction and was blowing straight towards the Reserve again.
When the team arrived the fire was a mere 100m’s from the R62, the Fire Brigade, three helicopters and farmers were already struggling to try and stop it before it reached the road. The only way to get into the fire was on foot to relay where the hot points were by radio to the helicopters. It was quite a surreal feeling standing close to massive flames, eyes tearing from the smoke, hearing the thudding of the helicopter blades as it approached, seeing the ghostly image of the huey’s as they descended on the flames, dumping their water loads and soaking us in the process… Their accuracy paid off and the fire did not reach the R62, but unfortunately turned towards a farm and some farm workers cottages, all help was directed towards this area and after a few hours this area was saved as well. Mopping up operations then started to put out all of the small fires amongst the vineyards and orchards.
The fires are still burning in the top sections of the Langeberg, all of the Farmers and Sanbona Wildlife Department are standing by to assist should it become a threat to the farms again…
