Cape Town – Fire crews were still battling to stop a fire in the Du Toitskloof Mountain from spreading to Wellington around noon on Tuesday, incident command spokesman Justin Lawrence said.
Strong winds were fanning the blaze that had destroyed 650 hectares of vegetation overnight after it broke out near the Du Toitskloof pass, he said.
"The wind is very, very strong, so it's a challenge." Lawrence said some 160 firefighters from the Cape Winelands District, the Drakenstein rescue services and Working on Fire were trying to contain the fire that was spreading in the direction of Perdeskoen in Wellington.
Last week, a runaway fire in the Helderberg Mountains above Somerset-West destroyed almost half of the historic Vergelegen farm and caused extensive damage to the Bezweni Lodge in Sir Lowry's Pass Village.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the terrible fires raging along the Hawekwa mountains around Paarl & Wellington. pic.twitter.com/aKMpGzcdKI
— FranTram (@WineTram) January 10, 2017