Knysna fires: family saves home ‘after others give up’

A brave homeowner and six of his family members fought tooth and nail to put out a blaze literally on the doorstep of their White Location, Knysna, home, reports the Knysna-Plett Herald.

Moses Mwaloe and his family woke up to bright yellow and orange flames outside their home last Thursday night, June 8. The fire came from the direction of the Knysna Provincial Hospital, swept through the forest and consumed homes on the outskirts of White Location.

Mwaloe wondered: “The fire was like a wave – it rose up and jumped from house to house. It jumped from here to the house behind us. How do you explain that?”

He explained how they fought the fire with the few buckets they had in their home, and he later called his father-in-law to help extinguish the blaze.

“We were still fighting the fire around our house even after the families around us gave up,” Mwaloe said.

After hours of fighting and avoiding injury, the Mwaloe family managed to put out the blaze with a small section of their home stained with scorch marks.

The family is especially fortunate that their home did not significantly catch fire as the home is incomplete and has exposed wood sticking out of it, including a roof made only of wood.

The Mwaloe family home was the only home relatively unaffected by the blaze, however, their neighbours to the front, back and sides of them all burned.

“We were lucky but the people around us were not so lucky and the only thing left to do now is pick up the pieces. Fighting the fire felt like I was in a dream. I couldn’t believe it was happening to us,” said Richard Noqulo, Mwaloe’s brother.

Moses Mwaloe and his brother Richard Noqulo explain how hot and high the White Location fire was which they fought. Picture: Knysna-Plett Herald

Another victim of the Southern Cape fires who is counting her blessings and making the best of her circumstances is Adri Swanepoel, a Sedgefield resident who lost her home in last week’s fire.

Her home burned down last Friday, but fortunately her family and horses escaped with their lives.

Swanepoel said she was not home when the fire reached their house. She was unable to get there in time as a result of the fires that broke out on the N2, but residents and authorities stepped in to save her horses and take them to a place of safety.

Later, the Knysna Primary School gave up their school’s field to temporarily accommodate Swanepoel’s animals as well as other horses who had been displaced as a result of the fires. Before Swanepoel transported her horses to the school, generous donors and members of the equestrian community already had everything a horse could need set up.

“It’s a very stressful time but it’s amazing to see how people are standing together. I have made so many friends since the fire,” Swanepoel said.

In total, 32 horses were taken in by the school. On Tuesday, Swanepoel transporting some of her horses back home to the only section that did not burn.

“There’s a small section on the property that was left untouched down by the river, so at least some of my horses have a place to be,” she said.

During their stay, the horses were used as a way to soothe anxious learners at the school.

“The school brought their children out to come see the horses. It’s great for them considering they have been through so much already,” she explained.

Swanepoel said she is overwhelmed by the support that she has received from “complete strangers” who have been there for her and her horses since she lost her home.

Adri Swanepoel with her horses before transporting them back to her Sedgefield home. Picture: Knysna-Plett Herald

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