The Drakenstein Farm Watch (DFW) has alerted firefighters to be on standby as a third farm was set alight in the space of a week.
“For the third time in a week, a fruit farmer on the Sonstraal road in Paarl, had to act swiftly to prevent a big fire to erupt,” the organisation said via Facebook. “Culprits set the high grass alight for no reason what so ever, just to test the response as it seems.”
Within minutes after the discovery of the fire, the DFW fire response group was alerted and launched a 4×4 bakkie with 700-litre unit driven by fire commander Jos De Vast. A 4×4 2700-litre fire truck with a water cannon was also launched at the discretion of the DFW general commander.
The truck’s water cannon was operated by firefighter Francois de Manielle and as the truck can drive while pumping water on the flames over a large distance and with heavy volumes, the fire was quickly under control.
“To get best results in a field fire, the DFW ads soap liquid to the water, to make the water ‘stick’, to the grass and branches, greatly improving cooling and extinguishing results,” the organisation added. “It pays off for farmers to be directly connected to the DFW fire group as then direct contact is possible with the fire commanders and this leads to the best accurate deployment and end result.”
DFW’s emergency control room can be reached on 0860666662 for any fire or accident.
