Fire! Drakensberg drama. A true story.

A spark in the dry grass can send a fire racing down the escarpment of the mighty Drakensberg mountains in South Africa to burn farms, homesteads animals and anything in its path. Winter often has snow but little rain and everyone is on high alert until the Spring rains fall.

Judy’s story of survival on the night when Wil and Vi celebrated their becoming a couple (at long last in Lila’s opinion) came as a welcome relief after the drama and awful reality of two stories of rape.

Judy posted on the “Wil, Lil and Vi Survivors’ club” website. Lila, a reluctant horse rider herself, was captivated by the ‘wicked’ trickster of a horse named Billy!

Judy wrote: ( This is a true story)
‘I spent all my holidays on her cousin’s farm in the Himeville district. The farmhouse veranda had an amazing view of Sani Pass and watching a typical summer storm was awesome. The thunder rolled like drums from the top of the basalt peaks and the lightning struck rocks and dead trees. When a fire started, usually in the dead dry winter season, it was a TERRIFYING experience.

My cousin Jamie and I lived for our horses. Mine was a small black polo pony who could turn on a tickey and outrun the wind! We were so in tune I could actually ride him without saddle or bridle. For my uncle’s peace of mind I only did that in the paddock.
Jamie was well built even as a boy and had the choice of Juniper a gorgeous skewbald, ( ginger red and white patterns) or Scout who was piebald (black and white.) They were tall, about 17 hands, a measurement taken from holding a man’s hand sideways, converted in modern times to 4 inches.

Altogether, with Juniper’s twin foals, naughty Billy and a gentle broad backed Firefly there were 7 well fed reasonably well behaved horses, except for Billy.

He was a pretty grey, with dark patterns all over his rump. His long mane made him look sweet. But woe betide! If he sensed that a rider was inexperienced. He would try to scrape him off under a low tree or against a barbed wire fence. He needed a firm hand and sharp nudges in his flanks from one’s riding boots. At times I had to give my Alex to a beginner rider and take on the wily Billy myself.

We often moaned and laughed at him. He got a devilish look in his eye and misbehaved like a naughty kid on a sugar high, until he was brought sharply into line.

The winter we all went back to school was long and drastically dry.

News came through that the berg was on FIRE. I was in maths class and a stressed teacher whose relatives also lived in the Underberg/Himeville area came in to tell me that my cousins were being evacuated from their farm in a terrible emergency.

A lazy curl of smoke had been noted by the fire watchers at about 10 am. Farmers began gathering with emergency firefighting equipment and teams of men.

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They were coping until a nasty breeze turned into a howling wind roaring like dragon’s breath down from the ‘barrier of spears’ as the mountains are called in Zulu – Ukuhlamba.

On my uncle's farm cars and the 5 ton lorry loaded with a mish mash of hastily gathered clothes, office files, staff, and pets left the farm. The emergency was such that my uncle and aunt wept as they drove past the dairy , fearing for their cattle, sheep and beloved horses. They were being pursued by a red hot foe, eager to devour them. The smoke was terrifying but gradually they were able to turn onto the main road and escape.

In the paddock the horses became restless. Firstly there was the faint smell of smoke. Then flying insects and racing small animals made Juniper begin to trot up and down the fence, whinnying. Her babies tangled themselves around her legs.
Flames do bizarre and horrible things.
Suddenly in the tippy tops of a 500 metre long stand of gum trees a streak of fire appeared and within seconds it was running like a wicked pixie along the top.

Finally THIS was too much for Billy.

Obviously no one was coming for him and his many years of watching and being as wily as a wizard performing magical tricks, he decided to act.

He went up to the typical farm gate and began to use his tender nose to remove the strong wire loop at the top. ( The gate was a home made saggy affair of wooden fencing struts held together by several strands of wire. This arrangement was dragged to a sturdy fence pole. The front pole of the gate was fixed into a wire loop on the ground and the top was secured by several strands of thick wire that hooked the ‘gate’ around the think post of the main fence.)
It was tightly in place but Billy being the focused animal he was and fueled by the crackling tension of his herd and the fire beginning in the tree tops above him he worked that noose even while his soft tender nose bled, until he got it up and off and the gate collapsed.

Even the foals knew to keep up with their mother and the rest of their family and they galloped away from immediate danger.

Billy having been born and bred on the farm knew it well. By instinct alone he sensed that it was ridiculous to run in front of the fire. He seemed to know that it would catch up with them as they grew too tired to gallop any more. He probably realised that the foals were still too young to go very far.

He used his wily wits and using the hard clay road he led them towards the flames. Somehow he had won the trust of the herd and just before the major assault of the flames, they paused, gathered their strength in a ‘do or die’ attempt and then he led the CHARGE of the ‘light brigade’. They galloped full tilt through the narrow gap where the road was the only space not actually on fire. Singed but not badly harmed they got through as my uncle, having got the others to safety, was returning to the farm to see what he could do.

He got out of the car and the horses gathered round him and he hung on to their necks and cried tears of huge relief.
As a good farmer ought he had made big fire breaks around the house, out buildings and staff quarters. Mostly they were safe and a small fire in a feed room was quickly brought under control.

The cattle had found their way to a hilltop and were clustered in a massive herd there, just out of danger.

Judy concluded her story with asking us to imagine the terror they lived through as the dramatic events of the day unfolded. But they had all survived!
Her parents took herself and cousin Jamie home for the weekend to visit and help where they could.

They gave Billy as many carrots as he could eat and tended to his cut and bruised nose and told him a million times how wonderful he was. They told him,’be as naughty as you like forever more Billy Boy, we’ll never be cross with you again!

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Wil, Vi (holding hands Lila noticed) raised their coffee mugs together with Lila and Vi proposed a toast, ‘to a brave and resourceful animal…………good old Bill!