Sarah Terwey from Pfunanane told the LETABA HERALD, “We saw a fire up in the mountains the night before but we didn’t think much of it, but then it just got closer and closer.”
Soon the fire jumped across the railway tracks and the firebreaks around the school premises. At the time, only three adults were on the property and were responsible for the safety of 25 children. They soon received a call to evacuate and the children were sent to the horse stables to seek safety.
They didn’t seem to be too phased by the potential impending danger and proceeded to give one of the horses a bath. This according to a social media post the following day.
The three adults and some of the older children then rallied around to try and protect the Terwey’s family home, which was in the direct path of the incoming blaze. Terwey went on to tell the HERALD, “There just weren’t enough hosepipes, my parents and John, a staff member from the school, were using only two hosepipes and buckets to try and extinguish the fire.”
Terwey said the worst of the threats to the home were fought over a period of an hour or so on Saturday afternoon and by 17:00, the worst was over.
They continued to spray the area with hosepipes after dark just to ensure that the fire did not pick up again. However, a thick fog of smoke lingered over the Academy as the sun set and the adults and children alike struggled to get a good night’s rest, with Terwey describing the scene as “raining ash”.
Terwey said that fires often sweep through the area and they have had a couple of close calls in the past but this was the closest they have come to a huge disaster. The water tanks and pipes that feed the school suffered damage and the school battled to supply water to the school on Monday.
At this stage, the exact cause of the fire is not yet known, but Terwey did say that the nature of the fire was rather odd, “It seem to come from all different spots. It was weird, it came from all different directions.”
The Letaba Fire Protection Association (LFPA) were unable to provide more information about the fire as those affected are not members of the LFPA.
However, it has been speculated that ‘patch farmers’ started the fire according to Modjadjiskloof resident Butch Baker. About 10 ha of bluegum coppice and veld trash burnt and then a further seven hectares of bush, grassland and mango orchards burnt down.
