The Herald

Fires leave trail of loss from Mossel Bay to Dunoon

Overstrand communities rally as veld fires threaten lives and homes

A firefighter battles flames burning dangerously close to a house in Pearly Beach during the recent fires.
DEVASTATION A firefighter battles flames burning dangerously close to a house in Pearly Beach during the recent fires. Picture: Supplied

When the fire tore through Mossel Bay’s Aalwyndal last week, singer and songwriter Hazel Stone had only minutes to decide what could be saved from a life built over more than three decades.

As smoke closed in, Stone fled with little more than her children’s holiday suitcase, her fiancé’s work clothes, a laptop containing 32 years of music, her microphone and her wedding ring. An asthma attack forced her to stop as the fire moved closer.

The blaze was among a series of fires that swept through parts of the Western Cape, affecting communities across the socio-economic divide.

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