Wind-fuelled blaze rips through farms near Port Alfred

Driven by near gale-force winds, the speed and force of a fire that in 24 hours destroyed homes, vehicles and farmlands northeast of Port Alfred on Sunday and Monday, shocked even the most experienced firefighters.

Two landowners and some staff lost their homes to the blaze, dozens of people were evacuated, and grazing and infrastructure were razed.

But those at the scene said massive support from farmers, the public and volunteer firefighting squads prevented a far worse outcome.

A fire believed to have started on or near the Port Alfred commonage at about 2pm on Sunday quickly spread in tinder-dry conditions to nearby Rocky Ridge.

Winds of up to 60km/h drove the flames onto farmland at the junction of the Mooifontein Quarry road and the Kleinemonde link road that connects the R67 near Bathurst to the R72 opposite Riet River.

Staff from affected farms were evacuated by Multi Security and spent the night at the Seafield police station.

Staff of the St Francis Health Centre were also evacuated.

Standerwick Farm, which supplies Standerwick Garden Centre in Port Alfred, was razed.

“We are devastated. Houses, stores, vehicles gone. There are no words,” owner Monique “Moon” Harvey posted on her Facebook page.

“Thank you to all who helped. How or where we start picking up the pieces … I don’t know.”

The Coville-Reeves family lives on the property.

A BackaBuddy campaign started on their behalf reads: “On January 18 2026 a devastating house fire destroyed the home of the Coville-Reeves family. [They] … lost everything in the fire, including all household contents and irreplaceable personal memories.

“In a matter of moments, their lives were changed forever.

“We are incredibly grateful that the family was not physically harmed, but they are now faced with the overwhelming task of rebuilding their lives from nothing.”

Small-scale farmer Sivuyile Gulubela keeps 59 head of cattle on Rocky Ridge farm, where the fire destroyed all grazing.

“The drought has been very bad so there was very little,” he said.

“I was already supplementing with grass bales.

“Now it’s going to be very bad because if I don’t buy food they will have nothing.”

The house at the Blind Love animal sanctuary on Ostrich Spring farm remained intact, but a shellshocked Philippa du Toit described two terrifying hours during which no-one could reach them because 30m flames surrounded the farm.

“We saw smoke and we let the donkeys out into the driveway. Minutes later, the fire roared across and surrounded us.”

The Du Toits got the horses and donkeys into the garden. Blind Love is home to 26 donkeys, 12 horses and two sheep.

“We cut fences to bring them in.”

At one point, the donkeys were trapped in a corner behind the house.

“They were running around wildly in thick smoke. There was nothing we could do. It was terrible.”

They sprayed the ground with water and prayed help would come.

Firefighters and the equestrian community came to their assistance with vehicles and horseboxes.

The Bathurst Agricultural Showgrounds provided a safe overnight haven for the two blind horses.

Veterinarian Annie Mears, who had come from Makhanda, had sedated them so they could be moved.

One of those who had come to help saw their bakkie go up in flames.

“The smoke was really thick and the heat was terrible,” Du Toit said. She was relieved her daughters were away.

“We thought we were going to die. It’s a miracle all the animals survived and the house didn’t burn.”

The BackaBuddy campaign started by family members says: “The Sanctuary is gutted. Our fences have burnt, our shelters are down, our grazing is gone … the road ahead looks like a mountain.

“We need to rebuild our fences and paddocks, we need to construct shelters and worst of all we face a long year with ZERO grazing …

“We are devastated at the thought of rebuilding from scratch.”

Kenton’s Night Watch was among the volunteer teams that came to assist the Ndlambe Fire Services.

Chair Ferenc Toth said the power and speed of the fire was extraordinary.

“It’s like a rocket being launched when a blue gum takes,” Toth said.

He had brought the CPF’s specialised “eye-in-the-sky” drone to assist.

“We were able to assess how fast and in what direction the fire was moving so we could relay the information back to [fire services manager] Mervyn Sauls and people could be evacuated.”

Eastern Border Farmers’ Association chair Franco van der Merwe said on Monday the fire in the area around the St Francis/Mooifontein junction was under control.

“I think we’re out of the woods — though there will be smouldering in the bluegum bush for at least two weeks. Backburning last night should prevent further spreading.”

Soon after, firefighters were dispatched to a new flare-up in an inaccessible valley at Sweetwaters Farm some distance away.

Van der Merwe, fire chief Sauls, Toth and others credited the volunteers with preventing worse damage and loss of lives.

“The community really helped,” Van der Merwe said.

In addition to Kenton Night Watch members, who helped fight the fire throughout the night, volunteers included Sibuya and Kariega anti-poaching units, Boknes Buurtwag, Klipfontein volunteers, Frontier Fire Assist from Makhanda, farmers belonging to Agri-EC, Multi Security and Hi-Tec Coastal.

LifeFirst’s new offices in the industrial area provided a collection and distribution point for donations to support the firefighters.

The organisation’s “beyond exhausted” founder Wouna du Plessis, who had been at the frontline day and night, was blown away by the support.

“My shop was packed with supplies for firefighters this morning,” she said. “I literally cried.”

Cash donations were used to refuel water pumps on bakkies and fire trucks.

“For me, the biggest heroes were the people who came with water,” Van der Merwe said.

Mooifontein Quarry, Mansfield Park and Siyakhula Trading sent trucks with 8,000-litre tanks to the fire zone.

What had made the firefighters’ efforts really difficult, Van der Merwe said, were people who “just came to look, clogging up the roads”.

Sauls said the Ndlambe Fire Services was grateful for the public support. “We are blessed.”

Van der Merwe earlier reported damage to structures included two houses and a storeroom on Standerwick farm.

A planned assessment by Sauls on Monday morning was put on hold because of a new flare-up.

Gardmed remained on standby throughout.

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