Remembering the Knysna Fires - Part 1

Aloe held Crumb’s paw as they trudged through scorched bits of wood and ash. Crumb’s furry face was dark with soot, and Aloe’s wings dull under the dust. The faerie and the mouse looked around, at their world that they no longer recognised: a black tree trunk stuck out from the sand. There were no leaves left; only the charred stubs of its branches, and the grey sky. The rest of the forest was gone.

Three years ago, on the 7th of June 2017, wildfires burned through the Garden Route. Egged on by stormy winds and drought ridden vegetation, it became the worst wildfire disaster that South Africa had ever experienced. Over 1000 human homes were destroyed throughout. The number of animal and insect homes destroyed - burrows, nests, hives, bushes, rock outcrops and trees - will never be able to be counted, only measured by the 17800 hectares of land that were ravaged between the 7th to the 10th of June 2020.

‘Crumb?’ said Aloe, walking away. ‘Look.’ Beyond the human road lay the ruins of homes, burnt-out cars and melted corrugated iron roofs. There was an empty space, too, that had never been there before.

‘What was there, Crumb? I-I can’t remember.’

Crumb put his paw back in Aloe’s hand. ‘The beehives used to be there.’

Aloe stared ahead. Oh. The bees are gone too.

Photos and information:

Knysna Fire Stories

2017/2018

www.knysnafirestories.co.za