Flames launch urban legends
2009-03-12
WITH any large scale disaster, urban legends are born. And this was all too true with last week’s devastating fire on Paarl Mountain. The first rumour to spread through Paarl, was that numerous houses had been razed to the ground - in fact 15 in total. Also, the restaurant at the Taal Monument had allegedly come to a blazing end. Hot on the heels of this legend was the news that four firemen had lost their lives, and that the bodies of two vagrants had been discovered in the area near the origin of the fire. And the final rumour which can be seen as the legend of all legends, is that a troop of baboons which were seen escaping the flames in the vicinity of Bosman Street. Maybe these baboons were the ones that tried to rob a house in Lemoenkloof while the home-owners were preparing to evacuate? * In February 1986, a similar fire raged on Paarl Mountain, starting in the pine trees behind Paarl Girls’ High. Due to the wind it ignited the roofs of three thatched houses in Berea Street behind Paarl Boys’ High. The houses were completely destroyed and later rebuilt.
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