Residents at a retirement village in Hout Bay and pupils were evacuated in the face of a large vegetation fire.
|||Residents at a retirement village in Hout Bay, and pupils were evacuated in the face of a large vegetation fire on Monday.
Ambleside School of Hout Bay foreman Dieter Bornhutter said pupils alerted teachers to flames near the school.
“The fire drill siren rang three times and all the children were evacuated.
“We are lucky the firemen were able to stop the fire before it reached classrooms. Only the bank of the school’s field is burnt,” he said.
School principal Grant Franke said most of the 149 children were sent home after the evacuation.
“There was only a short moment of panic when the parents arrived and tried to find their children.
“We even had one of the younger girls refusing to get out from under her desk because she was scared, but the teacher managed to convince her to leave,” he said.
Franke said the school would be open on Tuesday.
Rob Jones, chairman of the board of trustees at Kronendal Village, said “four or five of the lower cottages” had to evacuate.
He said no one on the estate needed medical attention.
Hout Bay resident Jodi Cock said she saw reeds on fire metres from her flat.
“There was a lot of smoke, everyone was running out screaming ‘fire’,” said Cock.
“I could hear the popping sound the fire makes which was very scary,” she added.
She said the fire spread very quickly, fanned by strong wind.
“Some people used garden hoses to help stop the fire from coming closer,” Cock said.
Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Keri Davids said paramedics were sent to assist and oxygen tanks were kept ready for people who had suffered smoke inhalation.
“Residents of the retirement village were evacuated from their houses and brought to a communal lounge,” said Davids.
“They returned later when it was safe.”
The fire also necessitated the evacuation of 37 horses from the Riding Centre on the Main Road in Hout Bay.
“The fire managed to jump across the river on to our side, but by then we had already moved all our horses to the nursery nearby and to Glen Ellen Farm,” said centre owner Kim Wallace.
“People came out of nowhere to help us. It was really nice to see all the firemen and community members,” Wallace added.
She said the animals were later returned to their stables.
Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Theo Layne said that even though the fire had been brought under control, firefighters would monitor the area for flare-ups.
“It was quite a large vegetation fire. No injuries were reported and there was no damage to property.
“We had 11 fire vehicle and 38 firefighters on the scene,” Layne added. - Cape Times
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