A team from the Volunteer Wildfire Services Jonkershoek Station demonstrated that they are not only committed firefighters, but also a well trained and adaptable unit.
It was almost inevitable the the severe heat of the past 2 weeks would lead to veld fires. On Monday, 8th March, a lightning strike ignited the Slanghoek Mountains near Bain’s Kloof, and the fire quickly spread to threaten farms in the Slanghoek Valley, twenty kilometres West of Worcester, in the Cape Winelands.
VWS was again called into action to assist CapeNature, and a team of ten firefighters was sent from the Jonkershoek Station.
After arriving at the summit of Bain’s Kloof Pass early on Tuesday morning it became clear that due to weather conditions it would not be possible to deploy the volunteer crew by helicopter on top of the mountains as originally intended. After discussion with CapeNature, the team was sent into the Slanghoek Valley where a contract team had already been deployed. The team set out to secure the left flank of the fire that was burning down the slopes of Kortberg and threatening the vineyards on the valley floor, but a sudden reversal of wind direction made this impossible.
Within minutes the focus of the operation shifted from fire supression to survival, as the fire flared up wildly and turned to close in on the team from three sides. Cornered between dense thicket on one side and and flames on the others, Crew Leader Mark Randall and Assistant Crew Leader, Murray Paulsen acted calmly and decisively, realising that the only escape from this situation was to run through the four metre high flames and into the burnt area on higher ground. Mr Randall indentified the safest possible channel of vegetation and led the crew through it while Mr Paulsen brought up the rear, keeping the team together as a unit and ensuring that nobody lost contact as they marched through the wall of flames.
Moments earlier, the crew had come across a contract fireman who had become separated from his team and was unable to escape the fire. The volunteers assited him through the fireline, and once in the safe area set about administering first aid to the him as he had fallen after crossing the fireline. Mr Paulsen, a second year Medical Student, dealt efficeintly with the burns and trauma to the fireman’s head and hands, and was assisted by volunteer Edward Hoorn, who had himself sustained a minor burn. There were no other injuries.
As quickly as the fire had come, it passed, leaving behind only bare stalks where half an hour earlier there had been dense thickets of wattle. The team wasted no time in returning to the staging area ensuring that the injured fireman was immediately transferred to Rawsonville for medical attention.
All of the volunteers showed focus and composure in a dangerous and unpredictable situation, which was especially remarkable considering that most are in their first season as firefighters. This underlines the value of the sound training they have received and of the cameraderie that exists in the unit.
The work was not over for the volunteer crew however, as they were then sent to work alongside contract teams on hot spots and flare-ups in the vicinity of Buchu Kloof, where helicopters were attempting to suppress the Southeastern edge of the fire. The team finally stood down at 14:25.
Article and Photo – Andrew Hagen
