It will be a grim Christmas for many Capetonians after raging fires burned down homes in some of the poorest and richest areas of the city on Saturday.
Between 300 and 400 people were left homeless after a fire destroyed about 100 shacks at an informal settlement in Philippi on the Cape Flats, while by 7pm, a blaze still raging unchecked on the mountainside above uparket had gutted one home and damaged nine others.
Firefighters were Saturday evening also battling another fire, burning in veld in the Big Bay area on the eastern shore of Table Bay, and which city fire chief Piet Smith said was "running towards houses".
All three fires were fanned by a raging south easter.
City disaster management spokesperson John Brown said the shack fire, which started around 11am and spread rapidly, was put out quite quickly.
Those affected by the fire would be housed by the local community. The cause of the fire was unknown and no injuries were reported Smith told Sapa shortly after 7pm that ten Camps Bay homes had been affected by the raging on the slopes of Table Mountain.
"One was gutted, the other nine were just affected, damaged by fire," he said.
It is understood that the owners of the gutted home are away on holiday.
The houses hit by the fire were in Prima and Medburn roads, Camps Bay and Geneva drives, and Hely Hutchinson Avenue.
Helicopters, which have been on the scene since 11am, were still water-bombing the fire as darkness approached.
"It's not under control yet," Smith said.
The fire also licked round the corner of Table Mountain and burned an area of fynbos above the lower cable station before it was brought under control.
On Saturday evening firefighters were damping down flareups in trees above houses in the upper reaches of Gardens and Oranjezicht.
Off duty and reservist firefighters have been called in to fight the Camps Bay blaze along with teams from South African National Parks and Working on Fire.
City disaster management services spokesperson John Brown said every disaster management staffer had reported for duty, as well as a number of volunteers, members of the public from as far afield as Atlantis.
Earlier on Saturday afternoon, disaster management evacuated residents from several houses in Camps Bay.
The cable station and a number of roads in the area were also closed off.
Smith had earlier appealed to hikers on the mountain to leave the area. - Sapa
No comments:
Post a Comment