/ 25 December 2005

Houses gutted by Cape Town fires

Fires raging on Table Mountain in Cape Town since Saturday were brought under control on Sunday morning, the city’s disaster-management services spokesperson John Brown said.

Sporadic fires broke out overnight around Cape Town, which woke up to a howling south-easter on Sunday morning.

Two houses had been totally gutted by late on Saturday night, three had been totally destroyed and at least six had suffered damage.

The overnight flare-ups had been on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, at Gordon’s Bay and at Melkbos beach, he said

However, no further property damage was reported.

Fires on Saturday had been fuelled by a south-easter.

Earlier on Saturday, between 300 and 400 people were left homeless when a fire destroyed about 100 shacks at an informal settlement in Philippi on the Cape Flats. No one was injured.

City disaster-management spokesperson John Brown said the shack fire, which started at about 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. — Sapa