Fire destroys many homes
Fire destroys many homes
9 February 2006
published by www.paarlpost.com
South Africa — A roaring fire that swept through New Rest neighbourhood in Wellington caused much anger and sadness with many people losing all their belongings.
The fire broke out on Sunday evening at 20:30 when somebody presumably left a paraffin stove unattended.
Neighbours saw flames inside the house, while the owner had fallen asleep.
Fanned by the strong winds, the fire spread to the other shacks and a conventional house with a mobile shop also burnt to the ground, destroying all its contents.
Residents were trying to use water from taps to control the flames, but it was too late.
The fire razed fourteen shacks, as well as the brick house, to the ground and damaged countless other homes in the surrounds.
The community was very upset at the slow response of the fire department, who later explained that they had been attending to a veld fire near Klapmuts, which had resulted in the temporary closure of the N1.
Another fire in Drommedaris Street razed seven shacks on Thursday night.
* Although the fires that recently ravaged the mountains in the Drakenstein area have been brought under control, firefighters are monitoring the situation very carefully to ensure that they do not flare up again in the hot and windyconditions.
