The fire that started in the early hours of yesterday morning in Tsitsikamma, is still raging today, Tuesday, June 22, with some firefighters having worked throughout the night.
According to Working on Fire (WOF) spokesperson, Nthabiseng Mokone, there are currently 108 firefighters from WOF, together with two helicopters on the fireline, putting efforts into fighting the fire that is in two different areas around Tsitsikamma.
“This fire started yesterday morning and five teams were deployed. The wind was very strong at that moment and made firefighting very difficult,” Mokone said.
“Currently, two teams, namely Bloukrans and Lottering, are suppressing the fire in the Coldstream area while Witelsbos, Kromsriver, Tsitsikamma, Bluelillies and Concordia are suppressing at Koomansbos in Witelsbos,” Mokone added.
WOF also placed three teams on standby to assist in case the fire becomes worse in the upcoming days.
“Longmore and Sarah Baartman teams are resting as they were working throughout the night. On this fire, WOF is assisting MOT, SaNParks and EC Umbrella FPA. Line construction was done this morning as a preventative measure to assist in preventing the fire from other areas,” she said.
She emphasised that during the fire operations, firefighters are following COVID-19 protocols where they don’t share water bottles, keep social distancing where practical and always clean tools where they need to exchange with other teams.
Mokone said that the wind was calm this morning with the Fire Danger Index (FDI) standing at yellow. The N2 was also reopened this morning and drivers are advised to be cautious and vigilant.
