Cape Town - “Firefighters remain on scene in Simon’s Town, with ground firefighting efforts supported by five helicopters water-bombing the flames.”
This is the latest update provided by City Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse, who said that the current conditions are making it easier for them to get the fire under control.
Carelse said they first received an emergency call of the mountain slopes fire after 7am on Tuesday.
Thus far, five firefighters have sustained injuries and two were taken to hospital.
“Weather conditions at the moment are favouring firefighting efforts, with the wind having subsided considerably. However, the Incident Management Team is keeping a close eye on the situation, should these conditions change.”
Carelse said that there are still more than 200 staff members on the ground from City Fire and Rescue, Table Mountain National Parks (TMNP), NCC Environmental Services, Working on Fire, Volunteer Wildfire Services and the Disaster Management Centre’s volunteers.
“Apart from the derelict building damaged last night, there have been no further damages to property and there is no immediate threat.”
Earlier this morning, TMNP integrated fire manager Justin Buchmann said that helicopters along with a Black Hawk, and an SANDF Oryx, were deployed at first light all directed to Simon’s Town to tackle bout 9km of fire line along the left flank on Plateau Road’s side.
“Our resources on the ground consist of five firefighting tankers, on skid unit, 58 Working on Fire firefighters, 12 NCC Wildfires firefighters, 13 Volunteer Wildfire Services firefighters, and Table Mountain National Park management team.”