The South African Air force has agreed to deploy additional resources to combat the fires that have ravaged parts of the Western Cape in recent weeks.
According to Anton Bredell‚ the Western Cape’s local government‚ environmental affairs and development planning MEC‚ the air force will provide additional helicopters to help fight the fires. Helicopters are normally used as “water bombers” and complement ground fire fighters by providing aerial water-drops‚ cooling the fires sufficiently to allow safe extinguishing at ground level.
There are at least 19 fires currently being fought across the Western Cape‚ mainly in the Cape Peninsula‚ West Coast and Cape Winelands districts. The fire season in the province extends from November to May with the dry and windy conditions fuelling the wild fires.
“We are very grateful to the South African Air force and the Minister of Defence for their assistance. The Oryx helicopters are much larger and able to deliver a bigger payload compared to the helicopters we usually rely on. We know the … assistance will make a huge difference‚” said Bredell.
He said the army’s resources have already been deployed to assist the Cape Winelands District Municipality.
The major incident at the moment is a fire in the Paarl area that is still burning out of control‚ the MEC said.
“’One major structure has been destroyed this morning. The fire in the Paarl area is being fanned by strong wind and several properties remain at risk.”
Colin Deiner‚ head of Disaster Management in the Western Cape said the fire within the Cape Town city bowl that broke out on Monday evening has not yet been completely extinguished and operations are continuing to prevent further flare-ups.
“The priority for the firefighting entities at the moment remains the Paarl fire. The extremely strong wind is making flying very difficult. There are currently around 200 firefighters on the scene battling very difficult conditions.”
According to Agri Western Cape‚ the devastating fires raging in the Western and Southern Cape are putting the agricultural sector under further pressure and damage has already been caused to hundreds of hectares of agricultural land.
“The fires make one wonder if reckless people‚ or people who want to cause harm‚ understand the impact of their actions on the rural area and the economy‚” said Agri Western Cape CEO Carl Opperman.
“A family lost their home and all their possessions and workers’ livelihoods on farms where fires have caused great damage may be threatened. Millions of rands of vineyards‚ orchards and agricultural infrastructure were destroyed‚ putting economic sustainability under pressure and causing a ripple effect on the total community‚” he said.
TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE
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