Saturday: In the hot, dry and windy conditions various veld fires spring up in the greater Cape metropolitan area.
Sunday: The fire starts in the mountain ranges around Hout Bay in the Silvermine area of the Cape Peninsula National Park.
A historic house at East Fort above Chapman’s Peak Drive is destroyed. Staff from the Chapman’s Peak hotel and local liquor store help firefighters. A strong south-easterly wind fans the flames.
Residents in the high-lying suburbs are told to evacuate, others further down the mountain slopes get ready to leave. At Imizamo Yethu, residents put their valuable belongings on the streets and line up to pass buckets of water. At Scarborough and Misty Cliffs people evacuate homes. The fire is under control, but officials are monitoring the situation. In the Boland several wine estates are damaged. Areas around Atlantis are also burning.
Monday: The fire flares up again and spreads in the strong winds. Residents in Hout Bay, Kommetjie, Noordhoek and Scarborough are again on standby to evacuate their homes. Smoke hangs over the mansions and swimming pools of Constantia. Silvermine is still burning. Air force helicopters dump hundreds of tons of water on the blazes. Wine farmers in the Boland are inspecting damage as fires continue. A cheetah and ostrich die in a local game park.
Officials believe cigarette butts thrown carelessly from car windows are at the root of at least some fires. Where fires are put out the earth continues to smoulder. Firefighters fear the strong winds will again cause flare-ups.
Tuesday: Air force helicopters continue to fly sorties over the flames. Noordhoek is engulfed. The Catholic church at Kommetjie has a narrow escape.
High in the mountain ridges of Constantia flames spring up all along the rocks. Silvermine Nature Reserve continues to smoulder. Fires at Misty Cliffs flare up again. Residents help firefighters battling the blazes. The South African Weather Bureau warns the hot and dry conditions will continue. Thousands of hectares have already been destroyed.
Wednesday: Record temperatures in Cape Town. Both sides of the Peninsula are now on fire. The smoke reaches central Cape Town. Air pollution increased by 20%. In the afternoon there is traffic chaos as five major routes to the South Peninsula are closed. Many people are told to go home early.
In Simon’s Town all leave for sailors is cancelled as flames raze at least three buildings in the naval headquarters and several buildings are threatened.
At least eight homes in Constantia are gutted. Residents there call in removal vans to take away precious belongings. The West Coast National Park near Yzerfontein is aflame.
The R27 road is closed because of poor visibility. In the Boland firefighters continue their fight against the blaze. At least eight wine estates have sustained damage to their vineyards.
Thursday: The blazes continue. Sun Valley is seriously threatened. Extra emergency personnel arrive from Pretoria and nearby towns like Paarl and Stellenbosch. At the time of going to press fires were still raging.