Cape Town – As the festive season drew to a close another six families were left displaced after a fire gutted their homes in Lost City, Tafelsig, in Mitchells Plain yesterday morning.
The latest blaze brings infrastructure damage in the province to nearly 150 houses over the past two weeks.
City fire chief Ian Schnetler said four wood-and-iron structures and a formal dwelling were destroyed in the fire, which ravaged Jacqueline Street in Tafelsig. Schnetler said the blaze displaced 37 people and the cause of the fire was not yet known.
Hours later, five people were treated for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital following a fire in the historic Bo-Kaap yesterday.
Meanwhile, holidaymakers at the Houw Hoek Hotel in Grabouw had to be evacuated when a fire threatened the hotel property.
The fire, which had spread from Betty’s Bay, flared up along the mountain resulting in the R44 having to be closed again in both directions and campers at the Koggelbaai resort evacuated.
The R44 Clarence Drive remained closed throughout the night and was set to reopen this morning at about 9am.
City Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Theo Layne said firefighters had to battle an extensive vegetation fire in the Koggelbaai area.
“The fire had spread from the Betty’s Bay area on the upper slopes of the mountain and reached the City’s jurisdictional area at around 9am (yesterday). Firefighters from Cape Town (were) on scene, assisted by ground crew of Table Mountain National Parks (TMNP) staff and a helicopter contracted to TMNP.
“The fire is fanned by a very strong south-easterly wind. The mountainous terrain is also affecting access ability to the fire,” Layne said.
Overstrand Municipality Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Sharon Bosch said two flare-ups were being battled below the Waterfall and Clarence Drive (R44) close to the Overstrand Municipality and City of Cape Town boundary.
“(Saturday) gave us an opportunity to view the full extent of the fire. The downward approach of the fire line in the Waterfall, above Betty’s Bay, has been stopped and was contained but the line flared up around 8pm. Urgent plans are being put in place with the focus on infrastructure protection,” Bosch said.
She predicted it would take another three days before the fires were safely extinguished.
Elsewhere, mop-up operations and recovery plans were well under way in Wupperthal, near Clanwilliam, to restore the Moravian Mission Station.
The devastating fire in Wupperthal last week left about 200 people homeless after 45 homes were gutted along with historical sites.
Wilfred Solomons Johannes, Disaster Co-ordinator and Spokesperson for Wupperthal Fire Disaster, Moravian Church of Southern Africa, said the electricity supply and reticulation were restored on Friday afternoon with the assistance of the electricity departments of the Cederberg and Matzikama municipalities.
“The cellphone repeater servicing the Wupperthal Mission Station has also been completely restored to the town that will greatly assist the communication between the town.
“An agreement has been reached and approval has been obtained from the Moravian Church, including the affected homeowners, that the gutted buildings be demolished in the interest of public safety - as the extent of the damage was severe and beyond repair, according to the assessments conducted by professional structural engineers,” said Solomons-Johannes.
On January 3, Heritage Western Cape chief executive Mxolisi Dlamuka issued a directive to demolish the historical buildings and structures that were posing a danger.
Provincial Education Department chief Brian Schreuder also granted approval for the commencement of the school year to be delayed by a week because of the demolition and recovery work that will take place.