City of Windhoek contains fire on Farm Hoffnung
About 20 firefighters from the City of Windhoek recently contained the fire in the mountains north of Windhoek, preventing it from spreading to Elisenheim Estate and Heya Lodge, with assistance from farmers and Heya Lodge employees with their vehicles.
City of Windhoek’s Senior Station Officer: Community Safety Awareness and Education, Fillipus Sikongo said they successfully contained the fire by creating fire breaks and controlling the fire’s movement.
“However the fire is now moving toward the north-east, in an area with steep slopes that hinder vehicle access and a quick assessment is being conducted to devise a new strategy,” he added.
Sikongo assured the residents in the affected areas that the fire was under control, but updates will be provided if there are changes in weather conditions. He further explained that at Elisenheim they contained the fire in the northern and southern fronts of the Elisenheim mountain foothills.
“Even though the fire was contained and extinguished the remaining part of the fire line in the north-eastern direction, situated on the high and steep Elisenheim mountain top, is still burning and may potentially move towards Heya Lodge, and the Lodge has been informed and is aware of the approaching fire,” he said.
He said that certain parts of the fire line have self-extinguished due to terrain and cliffs and an assessment will determine the remaining fire line and accessibility on foot.
“We have received reports of another active fire at Ongos farm and we want to assure residents that we are diligently working to extinguish these fires, and we will provide regular updates as soon as we gather more information,” he concluded.
