It was a very busy week for Montagu Volunteer Fire and Rescue (MVFR) starting with a concerned call on Thursday, February 6, about two hikers missing in the Mountain Reserve.
Jolan, the clerk at the Joubert Park office, shared his concern with Petrus Jansen from MVFR. Jolan advised that two hikers had left a note before 8am that they were hiking up the Donkerkloof to the Waterfalls and had not yet returned by 5.50pm.
Jolan had made contact with them and was told that the female hiker had hurt her knee. He hadn’t contacted anyone else, but was going to try and look for them.
Petrus managed to get hold of them and obtain a location pin and information regarding their water and food situation.
With a limited timeframe for daylight left and knowing that the day was hot and there is not much accessible water on the route, the concern for the hikers increased.
They were located at the steep incline (saddle) overlooking Ashton, so were far from their intended course. The MVFR team was constituted and Johan Olivier, team leader of MVFR, made contact with EMS Metro Rescue.
The call was made that a rescue team must be send up on foot with water and lights since there was not enough of a daylight window for the rescue helicopter to be deployed.
Petrus maintained contact with the hikers. Patti van Dyk, Jan du Plessis and Cleve Malgas responded. Johan Olivier set up a base at Piet se Pad and Tertius Olivier was based on the mountain relaying radio and WhatsApp communication between the First Responders and Community Communication head.
Petrus was based in the Donkerkloof. It took the team 45 minutes to reach the hikers with much needed water, food and light. The descent was slow, taking about two hours to get to Petrus in the Donkerkloof, mainly due to the knee injury, tiredness, and the levels of darkness.
The team met Jolan back at Joubert Park around 11.10pm and the rest of the team ended yet another successful response effort. The hikers are local to Montagu and were extremely grateful for the assistance.
“Baie dankie Jolan by Joubertpark vir jou flinke optrede toe ons in die berge verdwaal het. Woorde kan nie ons dankbaarheid teenoor Montagu Reddingspan beskryf nie. Julle was so geduldig met ons en het die hele pad af met die berg na ons welstand omgesien.
“Dankie Petrus dat jy ons met jou voertuig kom haal het toe ons onder kom. Julle is absoluut ‘n fantastiese span en uiters profesioneel. Baie dankie vir julle onbaatsugtige liefde vir julle medemens wie totale vreemdelinge in julle lewe is.” Brian & Rencia
Jacques Kriel, part of MVFR committee and also a councillor at The Cape Winelands District Municipality, expressed his thanks and appreciation to the team for great team work and very successful rescue.
But wait, there is more!! The week was not over yet
On February 8, at about 9.45am amidst school athletics and the usual town business of a Saturday morning, smoke was detected and reported on various WhatsApp groups, from the centre of the Montagu Nature Garden.
With a fairly strong wind, the fire moved rapidly and set reeds alight and within less than 45 minutes the Montagu Water Purification Plant at the top of Hospital street was under threat as reported by MVFR volunteers, Gert van Deventer and Dirk van Aarde.
This is where the Montagu Volunteer Fire and Rescue team met and immediately started to fight the fire heading their way.
From the dam wall they had a vantage point to ensure they kept the fire under control and away from the Purification Plant and structures nearby.
The Langeberg Fire services was despatched to Montagu Nature Garden for protection of structures and to prevent the spread of the fire too far into the Garden and the mountain.
With reasonable control over the fire at the top of Hospital street, some of the volunteers moved to the Montagu Nature Garden, up Bessieskop to prevent the fire spreading over the top of the koppie and moving on to adjacent farm land.
In 2019, a veld fire led to devastating loss of property and vegetation along the mountain on the R62 outside Montagu.
Additional support from Cape Winelands Fire Services (including 2 NCC ground teams) were despatched for support in this ever-increasing fire that was driven with the wind which had changed direction more than once during the response time.
In due course, a large portion of the fire was contained, however, crews were engaged in active firefighting on a fire line situated closer to thatched buildings inside the Nature Garden.
Ground and fire crews implemented property protection around the cottages as a precautionary measure.
The “all-girl” team (consisting of Rhoda Negus, Anne-Marie Coetzee, Patti van Dyk, Marchelle van Zyl, Brenda Marx, Toni van Houweninge – see main picture of aricle) of MVFR that responded to the fire on Bessieskop were very successful in stopping the fire from spreading over the koppie.
Wonderful work was done by these volunteers who did not hesitate to leave whatever their Saturday morning entailed, to assist in this emergency.
The MVFR team stepped down at 2pm, hot and tired, but grateful for the valuable
contribution of their efforts
As per the Cape Winelands District Municipality update at 7am on Sunday February9: “Montagu Nature Reserve The fire crews reported that due to the combination of high fuel load, hot weather, and wind, which caused many flare-ups, the fire proved difficult to bring under control.”
However, despite these difficult conditions, and aided by cool night weather, crews reported that they contained this fire at around 2am.
As per Hugo de Wet, curator of Montagu Nature Garden, there was no structural damage due to the fire, all due to a very quick response from all parties involved.
With early intervention for any emergency the outcome will always be more positive, as proven by MVFR many times over.
More about Montagu Volunteer Fire and Rescue:
MVFR has a vision is to create a community operated support service to assist the greater public of Montagu and surrounding areas in time of need as well as educate the community on fire prevention and incidents.
The Montagu Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association (MVFRA) is a registered NPO (245-707) and was established on 12 February 2020, by concerned SMEs to contribute towards the safety, wellbeing and development of the community of Montagu and environs.
The MVFRA is here to help all Montagu residents who may need assistance, and to support local and provincial authorities in an effort to minimise the impact of a disaster on all residents – from wildfires and floods, to civil disturbances and any other natural or man-made disasters.
Twenty of our dedicated Volunteer First Responders underwent Wildland Fire Fighting Training in bush and wildfire management and other courses including first aid to enable them to assist in emergency calls and people in distress.
Our volunteer teams are available to do standbys at public events with emergency equipment to assist people in distress or injured.
The teams communicate with their dedicated radio system and have an experienced incident commander that are in contact with the relevant authorities for emergency responds when needed.
At present we rely solely on donations from the public and businesses to meet our annual running costs and have been fortunate that some businesses and local residents have opened their hearts (and wallets) to enable us to purchase the equipment needed.
If you would like more information on MVFR and the teams, you can contact our Chairperson, Gavin Hatherley on 072 9277 545; email MVFRAChair@gmail.com, or the Team Manager Johan Olivier 0646487795, email montaguvolunteerfirerescue@gmail.com, or our Communications Officer, Mareletta Mundey on 082 444 3927 mareletta@loudadvertising.co.za.
