By John Yeld, Dianne Hawker, Candice Bailey, Johan Schronen and Vivien Porter
The most devastating mountain fire in the Cape Peninsula in five years has swept across the mountain slopes above Muizenberg, Lakeside, Westlake, Steenberg and Tokai, destroying three homes and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people.
One of the buildings gutted was a thatched R15-million mansion on the exclusive Silwersteen Estate which had a brand new BMW and an Audi parked in the garage. The owner, Rashied Jassat, is on hajj in Mecca.
Firefighters worked through the night in a bid to dampen the flames, battling against the galeforce south-easterly, and by 8am the major threat had been averted and no further homes were at risk.
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A strong stench of burnt vegetation hung in the air The wind, although still blowing, had also abated.
The 240 firefighters and 25 vehicles on duty early on Friday, some from as far afield as Blaauwberg, were concentrating their efforts on a dense patch of bush and trees at the top end of the Steenberg Estate where it meets the Tokai plantation below Silvermine.
Four firefighting helicopters were at work here, waterbombing the bush with water scooped from nearby Sandvlei, but were called off soon after 8am.
All major roads in the area were open and traffic was flowing normally.
One of the worst affected areas was the Oude Raapkraal complex just behind the Westlake Golf Course where the fire destroyed two cottages.
'He said they were going to chip the bushes but nothing happened' Other buildings destroyed by the fire included a guard house at Silwersteen, two council buildings at Westlake, a store and an office.
The Oude Raapkraal complex is occupied by members of the extended Lello family who have lived there since 1947.
They were out early on Friday assessing the damage.
Down at Lakeside fire station, the joint operations centre, a group of red-eyed firefighters and volunteers gathered at dawn on Friday.
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