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Thread: Veld fire.

  1. #1
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    Default Veld fire.

    We've been fighting a veld fire (caused by lightning) on a mountain for the past two days. I think it is out now but it has done the Lazarus thing once already, and the wind is picking up.

    Some random photo's.












  2. #2
    Moderator Skaaphaas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    A veld fire is a terrible, but beautiful thing.
    Sent electronically, thus not signed.

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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    Quote Originally Posted by Skaaphaas View Post
    A veld fire is a terrible, but beautiful thing.
    Sho Skapie!

    May you never experience the things I have experienced fighting veldfires. Some nights you wake up dreaming you cant breath, cant run away.
    It's a remarkable power of nature, it changes a man.

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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    Quote Originally Posted by Messor View Post
    Sho Skapie!

    May you never experience the things I have experienced fighting veldfires. Some nights you wake up dreaming you cant breath, cant run away.
    It's a remarkable power of nature, it changes a man.
    Us Vaalies don't know what veld fires really are.
    I've experienced enough "platteland" veldfires to know that sure, their end result is good, but it's what happens in between that's a nasty and dangerous and thing.

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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    Was that between Colesberg and Phillipolis?

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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    I don't thing I would be able to express it better, Messor.
    It might seem beautiful before you get close and personal with it.
    One of my worst nightmares, especially having had my youngest son with me at that time.
    Quote Originally Posted by Messor View Post
    Sho Skapie!

    May you never experience the things I have experienced fighting veldfires. Some nights you wake up dreaming you cant breath, cant run away.
    It's a remarkable power of nature, it changes a man.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    Quote Originally Posted by Skaaphaas View Post
    A veld fire is a terrible, but beautiful thing.
    If it is your farm, animals and buidlings there is no beauty. I experienced it twice - you will lay awake at night with stress, worry and apprehension.

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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    Three years ago the farm burned down, completely, a fire that stretched from horizon to horizon. The grass was long from good rains and the wind blew like something possessed.

    Nothing, and I mean nothing can prepare you for such a thing, there is no stopping it, no man made thing can help, the power is uncontrollable. Twenty to thirty meters in front of the flames bushes explode, looks like spontaneous combustion, fires burned over 20m wide rivers. 200m in front of the fire the air gets sucked into the flames, nothing to breath, no oxygen. Weird noises the likes of which you would expect from a horror movie. Smoke that blot out the sun for 100km. You cough up black stuff and you look like a coal miner.

    Ever seen a karoo mountain with no life, it looks like a scene from mars, alien like.

    Precious few things scare me..........but you get the picture.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Veld fire.

    I friggen hate fires.Or more to the point,unwanted, uncontrolled fires. As the saying goes "fire is a usefull servant but a terrible master". Only thing worse than an out of controll veld/ bush fire is a thatched building fire. Soul destroying and very very scary indeed. The stuff of real nightmares that comes back every time you smell that soot or you see the flakes falling from the sky.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Veld fire.

    Wild fires are indeed most terrifying. They can change direction on you in a heart beat, they have no problem jumping way ahead of the current fire line.
    Was in the midlands in the early 90's during two relatively small veld fires (one ended in a plantation). We were fortunate that the larger one hit the plantation as we were backed by the bombers.

    I was living in the Steenbras Dam Catchment basin when the Helderberg mountains went up in the late 90's.
    Vynbos is even a worse bastard.
    The almost fire burns as if petrol has been dosed over the plants.
    I lost my car when the Kogelberg went up (ESKOM HT cable snapped in a high wind) around 2008/2009 (CRAFT), that was also an intense fire. Section of Betty's Bay lost a number of houses as well.

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