LISTEN: Kouga resident ready to evacuate dogs as fires rage
One of the affected residents in Kouga says he has spent sleepless nights ready to flee as flames inch closer.
Sebastian Pretorius, who owns a dog hotel named Bon Temps Doggy Lodge in St Francis Bay, says the flames are just a few kilometres from his front gate.
" I just saw plumes of smoke from upstairs. It was already here. Prior to that, at 1:30 when it got here, we knew nothing about the fire. Immediately at that point, it actually looked so close, and the flames were so high that we started packing all our things.
"We still have our things inside the car right now because the fire keeps on burning, so we still don't actually know whether it's safe."
Pretorius is caring for nearly 20 dogs belonging to residents who have left the area to go on holiday and says they are on constant alert, ready to evacuate at any moment to keep the animals safe.
" We are in a very tough situation in that we can't exactly evacuate immediately. We have to put in place precautionary measures to transport the dogs securely and also make sure that we only do it at such a time that their lives and our lives would probably be at risk.
"So, hence, we haven't been able to sleep because we are not only concerned about our lives, but we're more concerned about the animals that are in our care."
He says while the fires continue to burn, the community has rallied, helping the injured and sharing resources.
The Kouga Municipality says emergency crews have been battling flare-ups throughout the night.
KZN firefighters are on standby to assist their counterparts battling the fires.
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