The fires in Knysna claimed the life of a sixth person on Saturday when a 63-year-old man died after being trapped by a raging fire.

The Knysna police have opened an inquest docket for further investigation following the death of John Blaauw from Hornlee‚ Knysna‚ at about 3pm on Saturday.

Police spokesman Capt Malcolm Pojie said the preliminary investigation suggested that Blaauw was a driver who was transporting workers near Windheuwel‚ Concordia‚ when they were trapped by the raging fire.

“In an attempt to flee the fire‚ he got engulfed in it and subsequently died due to extensive degree of burning wounds sustained‚” Pojie said.

He said autopsies will be conducted on the bodies of the six victims to determine the exact cause of their death.

The municipality said on Sunday morning that the fires were largely contained.

It said there were two priority areas to deal with‚ one of which is Concordia‚ where the fire was currently burning towards the informal settlement.

The municipality said tankers were being deployed to this area.

Another is Sedgefield‚ where firefighers started a “back-burn” that will reduce the risk of fires on the N2 towards Goukamma.

Back-burn is a method used to reduce the amount of fuel that is available for the main fire by the time the main fire reaches an area that has been burnt. This is to stop a fire that is already in progress.

The municipality also said it had not needed to evacuate anyone on Sunday morning.

There were 300 additional firefighters from Working on Fire‚ who arrived on Thursday morning to assist in fighting the fires in Knysna. Working on Fire is a programme funded by the department of environmental affairs which trains people to be firefighters.

There were also teams that have come from Cape Town and the surrounding towns.

Another team of firefighers from Potchefstroom will arrive in George‚ a town about 60 km west of Knysna which also experienced fires‚ Working on Fire said.