THERE is a high probability that arson is to blame for the fires which razed ten houses and severely damaged three more at St Francis Bay on December 18, 2018.
That is the finding of a fire assessment conducted by Phoenix Fire Protection Services on behalf of Kouga Municipality.
The full assessment was tabled to the Kouga Council last week. It includes an analysis of the weather conditions on the day, the possible causes and sources of ignition, as well as the actions and resources that were used to fight, control and extinguish the fire.
According to the assessment, three fires occurred in the St Francis area on the day. It is the latter two, both believed to have been started deliberately, that led to the houses burning down.
The first fire broke out near the waste site at Sea Vista and was reported to Kouga’s Fire Department at 10:45.
While Kouga fire-fighters and teams from the St Francis Links and Disaster Volunteer Group were fighting this fire, they noticed “short intermittent puffs of smoke (30 – 60 seconds apart)” in the area where the second fire started.
The assessors are of the view that the distance between the two fires was too great and the wind direction wrong for the second fire to have been caused by the first.
Closer inspection of the second fire’s growth pattern further revealed a number of spots, in close proximity, where ignition could have occurred.
“It can safely be assumed that fire number two was set deliberately and with malicious intent in an extremely gusting westerly wind. The puffs of smoke could also indicate the use of some sort of flammable liquid,” the assessors found.
While fire-fighters were battling the se-cond fire, a third fire broke out in the Sea Vista Primary School premises, near two of the houses that later burnt down.
According to the assessment, there is also a high probability that this third fire was started deliberately.
“Although it could be possible that fire number three was started from flying embers from fire number two, such an assumption is not consistent with the wind direction at fire number two at the time,” the report states.
“It is the opinion of the assessors that the cause of fire number three was also malicious arson.”
The assessors further praised the manner in which Kouga and other roleplayers rallied together to fight the fire.
“Although we feel deeply for the victims of the fire who suffered severe losses, we are thankful that no loss of life occurred and that the fires were contained in the best possible manner with municipal resources and other valuable public resources,” they say.
“The municipality of Kouga, surrounding municipalities, the public of Kouga and specifically the St Francis Bay community provided a shining example of standing together under extremely trying circumstances.”
