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Wild-fires cause ‘severe devastation’ in Knysna. What is the origin of this disaster?

The wildfire in Knysna is the largest and most destructive fire where more than 10 000 people were forced to flee their homes overnight as fires fuelled by storm winds ripped through the Western Cape coastal town. It comes on the back of the worst storm seen in the Western Cape in at least thirty years.  Please leave your comments below.

Over 400 formal structures and 200 informal structures have been destroyed.

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A heart-breaking disaster.  -  Image above - Knysna Fire Relief

As rescue efforts and evacuations are coming to a conclusion, the attention now turns to what exactly caused the fires that have killed nine people and displaced more than 10,000.

26 separate fires started simultaneously on the same day in 12 suburbs of Knysna, what caused this?

With hours of news feeds and articles researched….
There could be a couple of different reasons.  I don't know. Clinton Manuel, the head of the fire department for Sedgefield and Knysna said the cause of the fire is still unknown.

A Forensic investigator, Klatzkow, believes arson is the cause of Knysna fires.

Simultaneous fires starting at the same time‚ "raises a big red flag" and suggests "deliberate agency"‚ says forensic investigator David Klatzow.

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Firefighters have been responding to 26 separate fires in the Garden Route town, and Klatzkow is adamant that a thorough investigation is needed, saying:
“It is unusual for fires to start simultaneously. When you start an investigation‚ you need an open mind. You start looking for an innocent source [for a fire]. You look at negligence such as cigarettes tossed away and carelessness … somebody who was welding‚ a camp fire not put out properly. ...“[but] once there are three‚ four‚ five‚ 20 fires, you need an investigation”.

Klatzkow is a specialist in fire-related investigations.  MEC spokesman James-Brent Styan, who believes that it is unlikely that we’ll ever know where the fires began or how it was caused. 

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Photo:  Raymond N Oliver    More Photos of this heart-breaking Disaster

A smouldering fire in the dense forest up mountain in the Elandskraal Area.

Residents of Elandskraal, close to Knysna, notified the fire department more than once about this fire smouldering in the dense forest above there homes in the mountain, but nothing was done.

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Below is a drone video belonging to Anton du Plessis and dr. Wallace Vosloo.
This was filmed on the 29th of April 2017 and on this video clip you can clearly see the smouldering fire as large as a rugby field, in the dense bush. Elandskraal, Knysna region.

According to Dr Wallace, a lightning strike hit the bushes on the mountain on April 12 at about 15:40.

In the second video clip Anton du Plesses explained his own ordeal and his house burn to the ground.

Rapport put the allegations to Clinton Manuel, the head of the fire department for Sedgefield and Knysna. He said the cause of the fire was still unknown, and that the “smouldering brush” Vosloo referred to in his report was sorted out by the Sedgefield and Eden district municipality’s fire department.

Rapport - http://www.netwerk24.com/Nuus/Brande/kyk-ons-waarsku-maar-niemand-doen-iets-20170611

Watch drone footage capture the devastating aftermath of the fires in Plettenberg Bay and Knysna.  

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