On Friday afternoon we were about to hit ‘send’ to release this issue, when a thick smoke invaded our office like a ghost. We ran outside to see the wetland beyond our wall go up in flames – fanned by a strong wind blowing in our direction.
Ironically we were just focusing on the importance of wetlands as central to healthy ecosystems and here they are destroyed again. This happens every second or third summer, probably due to homeless folk who live there and make little fires to cook their food. Here we see the link again between socio-economic problems and the environment. If we don’t look after our vulnerable people, our environment will suffer and vice versa. Humans can never be separated from the environmental cause.
Whilst my son and I tried to hose down our neighbour’s house, which was closest to the fire at that stage, my neighbour from the other side stood with his arms folded in front of his chest, mocking me about my big trees and what a fire hazard they are.
“Should I fetch my chainsaw and take them down?” he joked, laughing amidst the crisis.
This is an old issue between us. He hates green stuff – calls it ‘dirty’ and to me the wilder, the better. It goes beyond my understanding how some people can hate nature and still today don’t understand the value of trees.
“Mom, I think we should prepare to leave,” my son Lucas broke through my need to help next door, so amidst choking smoke and burning eyes I ran around my home and office shouting “What’s important?”
What a sobering experience. I had just learnt during the past week that our computers were not ensured, so I said “grab all the computers and the cats.”
If you can’t see and you can’t breathe, it’s hard to focus on essentials, but you suddenly realise that survival is what counts in the end.
We were looking after the neighbours little girl, who sat with my daughter and all the cats in my car.
“I’m allergic to cats,” she said.
“Nevermind, you’ll survive,” I said.
Thank God by that time the fire engines had arrived and the smoke was going down. With the children safely in the car parked further down the road, Lucas and I sat at our fence to make sure the fire doesn’t jump into our garden. By grace it was stopped ten meters form our fence.
Now I have to tell you that I had invited some friends to join me in clearing my house on Friday evening, as my life partner had left our home permanently the day before. Nobody could make it that evening, but Nature obliged herself, quite unexpectedly and in her own and powerful way. As they say if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Cleaning out the soot this weekend, I realised again that there’s gold in all traumatic events.
Personally I had been through a fire the past 3 months, and letting go is heart wrenching. But this is indeed the year of letting go of all things that stunt our growth. Everything that’s still hidden in our subconscious minds is coming up to the light. There is no hiding. It is a year of clearing and renewal.
Looking across the fence at the black wetland I mourn the loss of the essential biodiversity breeding ground and the filtration system, which worked so hard to filter out the ecoli and other impurities from the dam above. Now the Lourensford river and False Bay will carry even more pollution and in the end this all comes back to us.
Hierdie brand was so onnodig - dit het reg voor ons huis in die vlei begin brand. My kleindogter was buite haarself van vrees oor die huisdier en voëls. Ek was die hele tyd baie bang vir die huis naaste aan die vlei - het eers vandag na al die skade gaan kyk en sien selfs die bome by die huis is geskroei. So bly jul huis het niks oorgekom nie - ek het reeds die brandweer in die Strand bedank vir hul harde werk hier in ons omgewing. Wat die ergste was, was die verkeer in die straat en een persoon se opmerking “hoe opwindend”, terwyl mense vrees vir hul eiendom en ook die voorkoms van ons buurt!
Pierre van den Berg says
hallo Elma
baie dankie vir die deel van hierdie ondervinding en ander dinge in jou lewe. Sterkte met alles, en hou vol die uitstekende werk wat jy doen.
beste groete
pierre
Jan Venter says
Sjoe!11 Suster!!! Ek is baie bly julle en julle huis het niks oorgekom nie!!
Hello Elma - Glad you’re all safe - sad about the fire - we live through far too many of these incidences in Greyton…. The offer of a little R&R is still open - would love to see you and Reuben and Lucas again??
I would need more information on the burning of the particular wetland by Elma Pollard BUT is “destruction by fire” actually happening? Is there hard data to support this “claim”? In today’s world many people simply abhor fire as “destructive” - forgetting the vitally important ecolocical role fire plays in ecosystem process LONG TERM. yes fire in urban areas is dangerous but it is people who have encroached on natural systems and are now loving them to death because they simply do not comprehend the ecological context and put human values onto natural systems. sadly I would have hoped to expect more from Green Times.
@Marise thank you for your comment! I would absolutely love to come for R&R very soon - just say when?
@Eugene …. are you trying to say that a burning wetland is a good think? I personally had the water tested in the 2 dams above and it is shocking, Urgenly in need of cleaning and now the reeds are gone.
@Jan ja-nee ons skop nog almal lekker sterk dankie - net bietjie opgeshake
@Pierre dankie ook vir jou. Ons is almal in die school of life, where we learn through experience:)
@Val - ja en die mense wat arms gevou gestaan en die spektakel geniet het. Niemand het ons kom help nie, maar gelukkig het die brand net onder ons huis gestop. Bly een van my bure is op ons lys - nie geweet nie!
One reading at one point in time is not giving you the full ecological story. Yes there are short term “issues” but if some wetlands are not burned they clog up then they cannot function. The successional process in wetlands is for them to filter particles, thus raising the soil level (over ecological time). Therefore for them to remain functional they have to be deflated - fire MAY BE one natural way of doing this, the other is mechanical dredging from time to time. I see you throwing up your hands in horror at this point - BUT remmeber eciological process happen of eons and short term we humans van easily get in the way by being “huggers”.
@Eugene, I hear what you’re saying. We will be researching this further - or are you keen to write us something about the role of fires in wetlands? My concern is that i have personally had the water quality tested of the dams above this wetlands and it is really shocking. Also, this wetland burns every year or two, which is surely more than what would naturally occur? I am deeply worried about water quality of our rivers and hence also oceans. The true facts here are so shocking that they are difficult to publish, but we will be doing that again soon. Thank you for engaging with us.
@Eugene, I hear what you’re saying. We will be researching this further - or are you keen to write us something about the role of fires in wetlands? My concern is that i have personally had the water quality tested of the dams above this wetlands and it is really shocking. Also, this wetland burns every year or two, which is surely more than what would naturally occur? I am deeply worried about water quality of our rivers and hence also oceans. The true facts here are so shocking that they are difficult to publish, but we will be doing that again soon. Thank you for engaging with us.