Anchua Naruseb
The veld fires that had devastated farms around Rehoboth for almost a week have not yet been put out completely.
Town council chairperson Amanda Groenewaldt said yesterday afternoon, “I just received a message that the fire at Bahnoff [east of the town] started again.”
The message received by Groenewaldt came from a Rehoboth resident, Bobby Mouton who witnessed the veld fire spring back to life around 12h00, on Monday.
The fires started on Wednesday, 14 September for the first time, destroying over 22 000 hectares of grazing and injuring two victims, one being the mayor of Rehoboth, Enrico Junius and Quinton Diergaardt. They were airlifted to Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
No casualties have thus far been reported and according to Groenewaldt, Junius and Diergaardt are both in stable health conditions. The veld fire had recently been contained and water was sprayed in the Tsumis Park and Banhoff areas to avoid the fire reigniting once again. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of private farm owners, volunteers, and services such as the NDF and Namibian Police, the fire has returned.
Volunteers from the town, farms in the area, Windhoek and Mariental fire brigades have been battling the blaze.