Fire!

Today's hot news seems to be the fire on Fish Hoek mountain! The valley is filled with thick smoke, a helicopter has been bombing it with water all day and there were 8 fire engines outside my sister's house. So I have updates from the horse's mouth, in a manner of speaking. She informs me that the helicopter pilot has gone home to sleep, having done a great job, but the fire is still burning due to a tremendous amount of thick and very dry vegetation. We have had very little rain since August so everything is dry as a bone, with the strong southeasters fanning the flames furiously. Fire engines and fire fighters remain on alert to protect property in case the wind rises again in the night, so everyone can rest easy while these fine members of society keep us safe.

This mountain hasn't had a fire since 1999, and it has caused a stir in Fish Hoek, with everyone posting photos on Facebook, each from a different angle and at a different time, with accompanying comments. The advent of digital cameras, smartphones and social media has revolutionised news reporting. Never in the history of the world have so many people had so great an opportunity to cover current events with the minimum of equipment, even less training in the use of correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, no need to spend hours in 'hair and makeup' before going on air and nobody to tell them how to do it.

I think I must be the only person who didn't take any photos as I was driving at the time, but if you want to see any, just google 'Fish Hoek fire' and I'm sure you will have a choice of thousands of sites! Isn't modern technology great?!