St Francis Bay blaze guts 11 homes
The Kouga Municipality in the Eastern Cape says 11 houses were destroyed in the fire that raged through St Francis Bay on Tuesday.
A few other properties were also damaged but not to the same extent and the actual number will be confirmed once they're confident the fire is under control.
Municipality spokesperson Laura-Leigh Randall says the situation does seem to have quietened down but fire-fighters remained in St Francis throughout the night to check for hot spots and continue mop up operations.
Kouga fire-fighters are on the ground and are being assisted by fire fighters from Koukamma and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
The province's MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Fikile Xasa, is likely to visit St Francis Bay before the end of the week to get a first-hand account of the damage.
Meanwhile, NSRI St Francis Bay station commander, Sara Jane Smith, says their duty crew was activated to assist in the fighting of the fires.
Smith says an evacuation of residents from houses in the immediate affected area was ordered by the municipality while teams of fire fighters, emergency services, volunteers, residents and good samaritans battled to contain the multiple
fires and flare ups.
Security companies and a large deployment of community members and residents assisted.
One patient, an adult male, suffered serious carbon monoxide poisoning and was transported to hospital by ambulance in a serious condition.