/ 24 April 2008

Fire on Somerset West mountain under control

A mountain fire burning at Sir Lowry’s Pass, near Somerset West, had been brought under control by Thursday morning, said the Cape Town disaster risk-management centre.

Spokesperson Charlotte Powell said the tract of veld caught fire at 9.50pm on Wednesday. It was not known what caused the blaze.

A number of firefighting vehicles were immediately sent to the scene, just above the pass towards the Elgin area, she said.

A helicopter flew there on Thursday morning, but only to do dampening-down water-bombing. The two firefighting vehicles still on the scene were also occupied with dampening-down, Powell said.

She said no one was injured in the fire and there had been no threat to property. — Sapa