Pearly Beach – A homeowner in Pearly Beach suffered burns while attempting to rescue his dogs from a house ablaze last week, while firefighters reported extensive damage to the property’s second floor.
No-one was in the house when the fire started. But the homeowner entered it to try and save his two dogs, according to acting Overstrand Municipal Manager Edward Jantjies. “The owner sustained injuries after entering the burning house to save his dogs [and was subsequently] treated on scene by Critical Medical Care Private Ambulance Services.”
The fire was reported at 17:10 on Monday 31 August, with the first firefighting vehicle arriving about 17:30. Firefighters deployed two fire engines, a water tanker and a mobile command vehicle to the incident. Jantjies said the distance between the Gansbaai Fire Station and Pearly Beach means the journey to the scene takes approximately 20 minutes by fire engine.
Cause unknown
The affected property was a wooden double-storey house, its second floor suffering extensive damage. The cause of the fire remained unknown and undetermined. According to Jantjies the extensive burning of the wooden structure meant no clear burn patterns could be identified to establish how the blaze started.
“As the structure was wooden and had burnt extensively, no clear burn patterns could be identified,” said Jantjies. However, “members of the public must remain behind the barrier lines, as falling debris could cause injury.” There was no reported risk of the fire reaching any neighbouring properties.
Preparing for longer El Niño season
The Western Cape is reported to face one of its most severe fire seasons with El Niño events projected to last eight months from its previous four, as previously reported by NovaNews.
In the 2025-’26 summer season, it is reported that the province experienced its most severe fires in a quarter of a century.
Firefighting crews battled an unprecedented “number of blazes that started weeks earlier than usual and cost more than R15 million to contain.”
Moreover, the high-risk fire season was confirmed to stretch from October this year to May 2027 by the Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell.
He noted that this could be due to extreme El Niño weather patterns and climate change.
Therefore, firefighter training was brought forward to September “to support the ‘rapid attack’ doctrine,” writes NovaNews, “which has successfully extinguished 90% of ignitions within the first hour.”
In the Overberg Jantjies has asked the public always to keep the road clear and adhere to instructions from emergency personnel on fire scenes.
“If you see smoke or fire, report immediately to Overstrand Municipality Fire & Rescue on 028 312 2400.”
