[jambutty]

With absence of fire breathing dragons roaming the countryside the causes of the fires could be many.

It was alleged on the news last night that the Colne fires were started by kids although a carelessly discarded fag end could have been the cause. On the other hand a carelessly thrown away glass bottle could have been the culprit especially if it was broken.

I plump for mischievous kids. Maybe they were playing with a magnifying glass and things got out of hand.

However I have to hold my hand up that at one time (1961 outside of Capetown) I was guilty of starting a bush fire that very nearly got out of hand. Actually it wasn’t just me but the whole off watch crew (7 men) at Cape East. The Chief decided that the bush near to the Transmitting Station had got too thick and too dry for safety so we started a controlled fire to get rid of the tinder dry material.

You would be amazed how quickly the fire spread before we could make a fire break and stop it in its tracks. It makes its own wind that sort of adds to the problem.

Before – during – after.