My heart goes out to all those that have been affected by this fire. A bit about St Francis Bay can be found here official St Francis Bay Portal
St Francis Bay up in flames
Photos of the fire here
UP IN FLAMES: A house burns in St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape on Sunday. Up to 100 homes were destroyed, the municipality said
A DEVASTATING wildfire that destroyed more than 100 houses in St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape was under control by Monday morning, the Kouga municipality said.
On Sunday evening, pictures posted to social network Twitter by residents and news organisations showed rows of houses ablaze, with flames reaching high into the sky.
"The fire now has been half-extinguished, with no more immediate threat to other houses," said municipal spokeswoman Laura-Leigh Randall in an update via SMS. "We don’t have any final figure yet but it would be more than 100 houses burnt down."
Firefighters battled for hours with raging flames fanned by a strong westerly wind.
Ten fire engines had been brought to fight the blaze and more were called in from the Nelson Mandela Bay and Kou-Kamma municipalities to help, Ms Randall said.
"The cause of the fire is not known but the fire started at about 5.30pm at Royal Wharf developments, which is mainly townhouses," she said.
All residents in the area were asked to evacuate and a temporary joint operations centre was set up at the local police station.
Most of the houses in the area are holiday homes.
Source - Devastating St Francis Bay fire under control
St Francis Bay up in flames
Photos of the fire here
UP IN FLAMES: A house burns in St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape on Sunday. Up to 100 homes were destroyed, the municipality said
A DEVASTATING wildfire that destroyed more than 100 houses in St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape was under control by Monday morning, the Kouga municipality said.
On Sunday evening, pictures posted to social network Twitter by residents and news organisations showed rows of houses ablaze, with flames reaching high into the sky.
"The fire now has been half-extinguished, with no more immediate threat to other houses," said municipal spokeswoman Laura-Leigh Randall in an update via SMS. "We don’t have any final figure yet but it would be more than 100 houses burnt down."
Firefighters battled for hours with raging flames fanned by a strong westerly wind.
Ten fire engines had been brought to fight the blaze and more were called in from the Nelson Mandela Bay and Kou-Kamma municipalities to help, Ms Randall said.
"The cause of the fire is not known but the fire started at about 5.30pm at Royal Wharf developments, which is mainly townhouses," she said.
All residents in the area were asked to evacuate and a temporary joint operations centre was set up at the local police station.
Most of the houses in the area are holiday homes.
Source - Devastating St Francis Bay fire under control
