FIRES in SOUTHAFRICA:'It was Judgement Day'

Wakkerstroom - An Mpumalanga farmer,faced with the grim task of shooting 400 of his sheep that had been badly burnt in a veld fire, had to ask around for extra bullets."It was Judgement Day,"says Fanie Landman,a 67-year-old farmer in the Wakkerstroom district. Landman lost almost 500 sheep in the fire as well as about 1 600ha of grazing and 700 bales of fodder."Under the new Firearms Act we're not allowed to keep a lot of ammunition.It felt like the end of the World."Landman said the fire,which started at an informal settlement near Wakkerstroom,had been fanned by a strong wind.
"It was spreading at more than 100km/h."Landman said the fire had broken out at about 15:00 on Friday.Within half-an-hour it had spread to his farm,25km outside Wakkerstroom in the Paul Pietersburg direction.His wife, Antoinette,55,and 18-year-old son,Andre,who took refuge in the farmhouse,at one stagethought the house would be razed by the fire.The couple's daughter-in-law,Corine de Lange,was at home on the farm in the area that she and her husband own.She was looking after their five-month-old baby and two-year-old toddler, while her husband helped fight the flames."I soaked towels in case it became life-threatening,but luckily the flames didn't reach our house."However,all our grazing was destroyed,"she said.Bertus Burgers,32,another farmer in the area,lost 99% of his grazing.About 6 800ha were destroyed;2 000 bales of fodder and 673 ewes in lamb were burnt to death."But there's light at the end of the tunnel.We're receiving offers of help from
everywhere."
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2156138,00.html
As in the days of Noah...