Knysna Fires: It’s Not Over. Sedgefield on High Alert… But Please Do Not Panic
Residents in Sedgefield have been asked to prepare to evacuate, but to not panic. At this stage (10h30) there is no need to evacuate and the fires are being monitored, according to Knysna Municipality. A special page set up for ‘Knysna Fires 7th June’ issued a message this morning, saying: “*Attention all Sedgefielders* : _Please do […]
Residents in Sedgefield have been asked to prepare to evacuate, but to not panic. At this stage (10h30) there is no need to evacuate and the fires are being monitored, according to Knysna Municipality.
A special page set up for ‘Knysna Fires 7th June’ issued a message this morning, saying: “*Attention all Sedgefielders* : _Please do not panic!!_ . Pack your clothing, essentials & some food and have your pets ready in case of an imminent threat to Sedgefield. Rather be prepared for the worst than caught off guard.”
At 09h30, the page’s admin updated, saying: “Situation has changed, we received an official alert for all of Sedgefield to pack their things and be on high alert. The fire is 3kms from Sedge on the Karatara side and 5kms on the Ganzvlei side. My neighbour went and checked and he confirmed. We are at the cement pots place on N2 and will be leaving our house shortly.”
Knysna Municipality confirmed this morning that: “Sedgefield residents do not need to evacuate at this stage. The fire is being monitored.”
And at 10h15, the Municipality again said: “Sedgefield residents do not need to evacuate, you will be informed if the situation changes.”
The fire is allegedly heading towards George.
The Municipality said earlier that for precautionary measures a decision was made to evacuate residents of Buffalo Bay towards the beach area.
Buffalo Bay and Sedgefield road are now open again after being closed this morning.
Knysna has a critical need for sealed 5 litre bottled water. If you’re in the area, please drop off at Checkers parking area or Municipal Planning Building basement, Spring Street.
Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS) has just tweeted that there is “a long day ahead for the VWS crews with extreme fire danger forecast and thick dense vegetation. #GoodLuck.”
Plettenberg Bay has issued an urgent appeal” “Request public members to PLEASE stay clear of the roads to affected areas as emergency vehicles are battling to get through!”
#KnysnaFire Along day ahead for the VWS crews with extreme fire danger forecast and thick dense vegetation. #GoodLuck pic.twitter.com/uy3wUZZpwF
— VWS Wildfires (@vwsfires) June 10, 2017
Yesterday, the Western Cape Government announced urgent steps are being taken to restore essential services to the areas affected by this week’s storm and devastating fire in the Eden District.
Knysna was already one of the Western Cape towns most impacted by the current province-wide water shortages – and supply has now been severely impacted by fire damage, and related power failures.
Engineering teams will be attempting to power the water network with generators – including waste-water systems, to reduce the possibility of pollution.
People are requested to use water carefully and sparingly, to prolong the availability of water in the town.
About 3,000-4,000 people remain displaced in the Eden district. Some areas that were evacuated have been declared safe and people from those areas have been allowed to return home.
In areas that have NOT been declared safe, people will not be allowed to return till the situation is safe.
The area is on high alert for possible flare-ups of the fire, with Saturday’s weather indicating a high Fire Risk Danger Index.
The public is urged to take great care of potential fire flare-ups – and use great vigilance if entering burnt areas, under the impression that the fires are fully extinguished, which may not be the case.
Teams from Eskom and various agencies will be guided by the combined Incident Command Centre, to ensure engineering teams’ safety in the field.
Eskom hopes to restore electricity to the local grid, but the municipal supply network has been severely damaged. Urgent steps are being taken to identify fallen powerlines or other threats, before the electricity supply can be fully restored.
The public are cautioned to take extreme care in the vicinity of exposed electricity cables or infrastructure – especially in water-logged areas.
Telkom partner OpenServe reported that the telephone exchange serving the Knysna area was up-and-running, but the Telkom network was still being hampered by power failures and damaged infrastructure.
Around 300 telephone poles had been burned, and replacements were being sent in from other parts of the country. Approximately 15km of fibre optic cables were also damaged, as well as copper cabling in the area.
While communications networks are restored, CapeNature has partnered with emergency services to establish full radio communications between teams on the ground – between both the Knysna and Plettenberg Bay areas.
The vast emergency response has been co-ordinated at the Western Cape Disaster Management’s Joint Operations Centre (JOC), at the Tygerberg hospital. The JOC included representatives from more than two-dozen agencies, which were united into a multi-agency team.
“The effort was massive,” said WCDM chief Colin Deiner. “But it’s not over yet. We urge people to be extremely cautious in the damaged areas, and be aware that the fire could flare up again.”
Knysna Municipality:
www.facebook.com/knysnamunicipality/