KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna Municipality organised a parade to commemorate the 7 June 2017 Knysna fires that ravaged the town and surrounding areas, causing the evacuation of thousands of people and the destruction of nearly 1 000 homes and businesses.
Parade
A collaboration of the municipal fire department workers, CapeNature and Working on Fire, the parade moved up Main Road to the municipality.
Participants were dressed in the uniforms of their institutions. At the municipality, speeches were delivered by high-ranking municipal officials.
At the end of the short programme, the parade went around the municipality building and came back to salute everyone who attended the event, followed by a wreath-laying in front of the municipal building as a show of respect to those who passed away in the fires.
Keynote address
Keynote speaker Mayor Thando Matika said the commemoration was not only to remember, but to reflect and honour all those who sacrificed their time to fight the fires that year.
"We are not here to celebrate, but to commemorate the lives that were lost at that time. It has been eight years since those fires took place," said Matika.
"Our town has been through many challenges. That day changed Knysna forever. Those who lost their relatives and homes have not recovered up until now. Some have not fully recovered. Homes were destroyed and our natural landscape was scattered.
We remember today the lives that were lost in those fires. Families are still in pain for their loved ones. We thank our firefighters and our volunteers across Knysna. They risked their lives to protect us."
Matika said while it is important to remember how we got here, it is equally important that we look forward and hold our heads up high.
Thousands of people, including organised responders and individuals, spared no thought for their own lives in helping to get people, pets and property to safety.
Eleanore Bouw-Spies
The mayor at the time of the fires, Eleanore Bouw-Spies - today a member of the National Assembly - remembered the panic and chaos at the time.
She was woken at around 04:00 and told that there was a fire coming from the Bracken Hill direction.
Families were outside their homes trying to run away from the fire and she asked that people be taken to safety fast. "People were looking for their families. I remember a young girl asking for her father.
"I had to tell her that while her father was being taken to a place of safety, he didn't make it and passed away," she said.
"I thought, how are we going to deal with this fire coming at this speed?"
Bouw-Spies said nobody will ever forget those fires and many will never grasp the insanity of the days of the fires, as well as the harrowing months that followed.
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