FIREFIGHTING efforts were reportedly delayed by load shedding after water carriers could not respond to two fires the Bergfontein area and Kamanassie mountain rage.
The Garden Route District Municipality said both fires occurred after 6pm on Friday as a result of lightening strikes.
“Load shedding affected the filling of the bomber planes at the airbase as the filling pumps were electricity driven. Mass water carriers were not able to operate on the fires and therefore caused delays in gaining control of the wildfire,” read the municipality’s statement.
According to the municipality the Bergfontein fire near Albertina was extinguished by Saturday evening with mop up operations taking place.
“Firefighters were deployed to the Bergfontein area (Friday) night to monitor the fire. The wildfire did not spread much during the evening. (On Saturday) morning CapeNature deployed firefighters to perform mopping-up operations,” read the statement.
“Crews were, however, met with rain early (on Saturday) afternoon.”
With the Kamanassie fire, the municipality said while the blaze had initially self-extinguished, flare-ups occurred on Saturday morning.
“Due to inaccessible terrain, a helicopter was dispatched to the area to spot any vast spread of the wildfire. Ground crews eventually gained access to the area and are still in the process of mopping it up, which will continue into the evening.”
The South African Weather Service issued warnings for heavy rains and thunderstorms in parts of the Western and Northern Cape on Sunday and Monday.