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Firefighters managed to extinguish a small fire that broke out on the mountain at Rotary Way before it could cause any serious damage thanks to the quick action of a member of the public who reported seeing smoke in the bushes high up in the mountain last week.
Lourens Theron, of Afriforum Alfa Neighbourhood Watch, expressed concern about the fact that a man, who was apprehended by Overstrand law enforcement officers after he was seen running down the mountain from the direction of the smoke, was not arrested and charged.
“We spoke to a number of eyewitnesses who saw the man running from where the smoke was seen. We also have a video clip of this,” Theron stated.
The woman who first saw the smoke and reported it to the Overstrand fire and rescue services who were on the scene within minutes, said Theron, ran after the suspect and confronted him.
He added that law enforcement officials who responded to the reports within a flash managed to apprehend the suspect and handed him over to the police.
“When I enquired about the matter the next day, I was told that the suspect had not been charged,” Theron recounted.
“I find this extremely concerning because if the fire was reported a few minutes later and if the fire services didn’t respond immediately, the results could have been catastrophic.”
Col Raymond Jacobs, commander of the Hermanus police, confirmed that there was no record of a person charged with arson.
A number of fires that broke out almost simultaneously across the Overstrand and Theewaterskloof recently has aroused suspicions of arson.
Reinard Geldenhuys, Overberg District Municipality’s chief of fire and rescue services, reported that it was confirmed the fires that broke out at several points in Grabouw at the end of January, including Klipkop, Siyanyanzela informal settlement (Blikkiesdorp) and Oudemolen, were the result of malicious ignition.
“It’s thought the fires may have been started by children,” he stated.
Last week, Overstrand Executive Mayor Dr Annelie Rabie was hesitant to confirm whether arson was the cause of some of the fires that had raged in the Overstrand two weeks ago.
She stated: “I cannot comment right now on the veracity of the claim that this is possible arson. I can say, for me, these are a little too many just to be written off as incidental fires.
“We will have a post-incident investigation as per the norm, and once that report has been completed I will be in a better position to comment on these claims.”
The recent fires are a stark reminder of infernos that raged out of control in the Betty’s Bay area and Hemel-en-Aarde Valley at the start of 2019, causing large scale devastation and uprooting residents of these areas while firefighters battled to contain the flames.
Sheldon April, a resident of Mooi Uitsig, was arrested a short while after the disastrous blaze broke out on New Year’s eve of that year and raged for days, claiming the life of at least one person, destroying 41 homes and damaging 28 other structures.
The fire that reportedly broke out after April set off a flare that landed in bushes along the mountain above Betty’s Bay.
He eventually pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
He was not charged with the death of a 59-year old woman who reportedly died of smoke inhalation from the fire or that of Henry Hopkins (71), who never woke up from a medically induced coma after he suffered burn wounds across 70% of his body when he returned to his house to save his dog (“’n Glasie op oudredakteur geklink”, 11 March 2019).
In recent weeks, Overstrand Municipality offered a R15 000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and successful prosecution of the person/persons suspected of starting a blaze that raged between Stanford and Gansbaai.
