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At least 400 000 hectares destroyed in FS veld fires

───   12:18 Sat, 20 Sep 2014

At least 400 000 hectares destroyed in FS veld fires | News Article

Harrismith - Working on Fire (WoF) said by Friday at least 400 000 hectares of land had been destroyed by two veld fires in the Free State.

WoF spokesperson Limakatso Khalianyane says the fire in Harrismith, which has killed five people including a baby, is one of the biggest and most disastrous since the start of the 2014 fire season.
 
Khalianyane says it is believed the fire started from burning rubbish but the exact cause has not yet been established.
 
Wof’s assistant general manager Masibonge Silevu urged community members and land owners to exercise caution when burning rubbish and to contact the nearest Wof base when they plan to burn for advice.
 
Retired clergyman Johan Mocke, his fifteen-year-old son Zander and a farmworker Kehlo Mokoena were killed while trying to fight a fire on Mount Everest game farm.
 
Another two people, Nico Joubert and JP du Toit, sustained serious burn wounds in the fire.
 
Joubert is in a critical condition at Hoogland-Mediclinic in Bethlehem, Du Toit is serious but stable.
 
A mother and her baby were also killed in the fires. Their identities have not yet been made public.
 
Working on Fire statement; Dirk Kok/OFM News 

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