“A big blue flash – amazing, terrifying – bigger than a bolt of lightning,” is how a Boknes land owner described power lines arcing Wednesday night, shortly before flames tore across the veld, driven by gale-force winds. Weather data at nearby Boesmansriviermond for that day showed winds of up to 65km/h and gusting up to 85km/h.
Welcome rain meant that volunteers who had spent most of Wednesday night fighting the massive blaze were able to rest on Thursday. Gale-force winds drove towering flames that threatened farmlands, homes and livestock.
The fire was huge, fast and terrifying, and there were many heroes; but everyone Talk of the Town spoke to insisted that the story we should tell is the way the communities of Boknes and the surrounding areas stood together with fire fighting teams from Ndlambe and the Sarah Baartman District to prevent further disaster.
An exhausted Wayne Herholdt, owner of Fire Wings reserve on the road to Boknes, spoke to Talk of the Town while he boiled water for his first cup of coffee after more than 12 hours at the fireline.
“This effort should go down in history,” he said. “Everyone in the community came out to help – even the old people. And there were people there with hot flasks of coffee, water and lip-ice for the fire fighters throughout the night.”
Area coordinator of the Night Watch volunteers Ferenc Toth later added: “Every farmer and their wives and children were there helping.
“Actually, the boerebakkies were the first to arrive – people brought their water bowsers on trailers and in the backs of bakkies from the neighbouring farms, from Kenton Ratepayers, private estates: every piece of mobile fire fighting equipment in the area was there.”
Herholdt said the response from farmers in the surrounding area had been “amazing”.
They’d done the best they could until the Ndlambe and Sarah Baartman Fire Services arrived “in full force”, and then continued to fight the fire alongside them.
Herholdt said he’d heard a loud cracking noise around 7.25pm on Wednesday.
“I went out onto my balcony to look.”
It was quite soon after the Eskom lines were reconnected after the power had been out earlier in the day.
“They’d tried to reconnect the area again, when there was this huge explosion. The lines arced again and there was this big blue flash – it was really big – amazing, terrifying, bigger than a bolt of lightning.”
Area coordinator of the Night Watch volunteers Ferenc Toth later said that the wind had damaged the Eskom power lines in two places: just over 1km from Boknes, and at the Boknes crossing.
“I got the call and immediately notified the Boknes Night Watch. They arrived almost immediately to assess the situation.
“Within 20 minutes, it was an inferno. It was that combination of a raging wind and the broken power cables: when 11KVAs hit the earth, you get an ignition of note – and the wind made it worse.”
You could see from how he handled the situation that he is a seasoned professional.
Toth reckoned the flames were 30 or 40 metres high, especially in areas where there was fuel-rich Port Jackson willow.
Among the concerns was a 500-strong herd of cattle that would have to be moved if the fire spread towards their pasture. Fortunateluy the fire didn’t reach that part of the farm.
Herholdt said fire chief Mervyn Sauls had joined his crew on the ground.
“He took charge and you could see from how he handled the situation that he is a seasoned professional.”
Gert Labuschagne, of Night Watch in Boknes,said there had in fact been three big veld fires on Wednesday night, all starting more or less at the time. The first was on Kuswag Farm near the entrance to Boknes. “There were about 30 people from Boknes, Cannon Rocks and even from Bushmansriver, Kenton and Riversbend that came to assist in containing this fire,” Labuschagne said.
The second was on Fire Wings Reserve, in an inaccessible area near Dias Cross and the third fire was close to Klipfontein Township next to Bushmans River. Ferenc Toth had coordinated a team from the neighbourhood watch for Bushmans River and Riversbend to help tackle this fire.
Labuschagne said the fire was under control by around 3am on Thursday. The rain that had followed the terrible winds had been a blessing and ensured that there were no flare-ups.
It was anticipated that because of the damage to the power lines, Boknes residents could expect to be without power for an extended period. However, “Just look at the fantastic support from the Cannon Rocks Rate Payers Association towards the Boknes community,” Labuschagne wrote and forwarded the following message:
“Dear Boknes, we know it’s been a tough day and a half: while our power is on, if anyone is struggling with charging a phone, needing a warm cup of tea or coffee, our Cannon Rocks hall will be open from 10 to 2 today for anyone needing some assistance. We will be there – bring along a book to read or your cheerful self for company!”
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 29, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays
