Cape Town – Sunday marked a week since firefighting teams from around the province began battling a raging fire in the mountains and veld above Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.
An estimated 13 600 hectares had been affected.
Cape Winelands District Municipality spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto said the various fire services partners made good progress in bringing the fire under control.
The teams were replaced by fresh crews yesterday morning.
“(The) predicted hot weather will prove challenging to firefighters and ground teams, as it is conducive to flare-ups and heat exhaustion.
Otto said the fire on the peaks of Bothmaskop through to Jonkershoek was currently burning in high, mostly inaccessible terrain, and owing to the inherent risks that the combination of inaccessibility, low visibility and dense cloud cover present, no immediate action was planned for these fire lines.
She said the fire lines would either burn out naturally as they ran out of fuel or would continue to burn towards more accessible areas where firefighting resources would be deployed.
“The firefighting and ground teams, assisted by purpose-built vehicles, will be deployed to hot spots in the accessible Jonkershoek areas, where they will continue with the management of flareups, monitoring and mopping-up operations,” Otto said.
Working On Fire spokesperson Limakatso Khalinyane said the organisation had dispatched six teams and three aerial resources to assist in the fire, which has spread through to three municipalities in a matter of a week.
She said that the Kleinmond, Walker Bay and Helderberg teams had been requested to assist as the fire continued to burn.
“The Kleinmond and Walker Bay teams worked near the Berg River Dam, an area deemed a hot spot as there are flammable liquids that are used at the dam to pump water.
“The team patrolled the area and extinguished smoky areas and ashes that posed threats of flare-ups. The area was a serious hot spot as it surrounds luxury properties, schools, and farms.
“The Lourensford area has been deemed an area of concern as the wind is expected to change direction from Sunday.
“Working On Fire resources are on standby to assist.
“Two AT-802 bombers that were stationed in Porterville have been relocated to Stellenbosch on standby there for a speedy response time to assist when requested,” Khalinyane said.
Cape Times