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Bulletin F A R 21 July 2017
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Stylkop burns An aerial photograph of the Stylkop fire taken from the Spotter plane on Tuesday morning. The blaze has since been brought under control but is being monitored very closely and LFPA resources - two choppers, a spotter plane and Helitact team, are still fighting in the area.
Incident commander on the ground was Pieter Henning with the three pilots including Simon Venter in the Spotter plane and Mathew Carter and Charles Burger in choppers Pappa and Kilo. Four hours into the fight it appeared as though the fire was losing momentum and the aircraft stood down. The rest of the day and through Wednesday, all was quiet on the Stylkop front. On Thursday however, the fire seemed to have flared up again and the LFPA aircraft resources were dispatched once more. Their main objective was fire suppression from the
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air. On the ground, four private landowners had pitched in to help and were fighting the blaze with their “bakkie sakkies” in support of the aircrafts. When Bulletin spoke to Maritza Swanepoel of the LFPA on Thursday afternoon, it was estimated that 45 hectares of grassland and bush had already been devoured. According to her, it was an intense fight on the day, because of the heavy winds. “The fire itself is not that hectic at the moment, although we are trying to keep it from reaching the Matume and Cashumi plantations below the cliffs,” she said. “The wind is
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making it difficult for the choppers, but so far it looks under control. The Working on Fire team could not be dispatched as it would take them too long to reach the fire line, but we have our Helitact team in place.” A relief spotter plane from Nelspruit, piloted by Frank Smook, also joined the fight. At the time of going to print, the fire had still been kept at bay and was being closely monitored both from the air and the ground. Follow the Letaba Fire Protection Association Facebook page to stay up to date on the #stylkopfire as the weekend progresses. — Joe Dreyer joe@bulletin.us.com
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“Our biggest fear is that the fire jumps off the cliffs down into Georges Valley.” A fire has been raging in the Stylkop cliffs above Georges Valley since Tuesday morning. An aircraft was called in to assist with the fire at around 12:00 that afternoon. By the end of the day, approximately 20 hectares of indigenous bush and grasslands had been destroyed and the fire showed no sign of letting up. Letaba Fire Protection Association dispatched their resources to the fire line which included a spotter plane, two choppers, a Helitact team and an aircraft support vehicle. The
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