Burn, Baby Burn

I couldn't believe my eyes when I returned from rehearsal at school today.  I'd been away from home for about two hours, and in that time, all the long grass that hadn't burned in Friday's fire had now gone up in flames.

Bit of a surprise when I return home to see this.  As you can see, the road is crowded with concerned neighbours and residents. Not.

For comparison - before the fire.  I took this pic on 28 May, intending to blog about Rubbish Day in Mthatha - no  wheelie bins, no bin pickers, no dogs.  Just leave your rubbish on the verge, and it'll get picked up.  Eventually.

I take a walk down the road towards the smoke and meet a rather agitated guest house owner (whose gardener is on standby with a hose pipe) and a Man in Black.  MiB is the greenskeeper of the golf course, and is responsible for today's fire, which was supposed to be a controlled burn.  Oops.  He grinned when I told him that I was the one who called the fire brigade for that silly little fire in June.  But he had the grace to  admit that he had called the fire brigade two hours earlier for this fire, and was still waiting.  He was a tad concerned that the houses at the end of the road may be at risk, because then the golf club would be in a spot of bother.

I didn't phone Bob this time.

Oh, and no prizes for guessing what MiB was driving.

View from the golf course

 

It can get pretty hot in there

The tick birds thought this was a great opportunity to snap up any fleeing goggas

...as did this junior Grey Heron

Looks like a fire-breathing dragon. If you scrunch up your eyes and tilt your head 45 degrees. Really.

The main disadvantage of this fire is that all the builders' rubble that has been dumped in the long grass is now exposed.  Apparently Mthatha has no bylaws.  None.  None about dumping, none about vagrancy, none about wandering livestock. 
Spot the dog...