/ 26 December 2005

Cape fire slowly being defeated

Firefighters appear to be getting control of the brush fire that has been raging in the Melkbosstrand area north of Cape Town since Saturday, city fire chief Piet Smith said on Sunday evening.

The four helicopters, including two from the South African Air Force, that had been water-bombing the blaze were called off at 8pm, but ground crews would stay on the job.

The fire earlier threatened the Ou Skip caravan park at the coastal community, and a pensioners’ home was evacuated as the fire approached, but firefighters managed to save both from the flames.

”We’ve lost nothing, by the grace,” Smith said. ”But we’ve still got large areas that we’re busy extinguishing. We’re slowly winning the battle.”

He said there were ”continuous flare-ups” on the slopes of Table Mountain above Camps Bay, where a blaze on Saturday destroyed property, but firefighters were patrolling the area and damping down where necessary.

The fire had been fanned by a raging south-easter.

By late Sunday afternoon, residents living along Otto du Plessis Drive in the suburb of Duynefontein, north of Melkbosstrand, had been warned to damp down their properties and ready their most valuable possessions for evacuation as the fire bore down on them.

Anxious homeowners used hosepipes to wet down their gardens and outside sheds, as smoke obscured the sky above them.

Jan Bekker of Alberton, on holiday at the Ou Skip caravan park with his wife, blamed the authorities for what was happening.

”This fire started yesterday [Friday], and they haven’t controlled it properly,” he said. — Sapa