WATCH: Choppers called in‚ residents flee homes as fires rage on Table Mountain

17 January 2017 - 09:09 By Nashira Davids And Tmg Digital
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Fire raging on Cape Town's Table Mountain.
Fire raging on Cape Town's Table Mountain.
Image: City of Cape Town

Three helicopters were in action on Tuesday morning water-bombing the wildfire raging on the lower slopes of Table Mountain which saw some residents voluntarily evacuate their homes overnight.

City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Theo Layne told TMG Digital that two choppers contracted to the city and one to Table Mountain National Park were working to douse the wildfire‚ and at least 100 firefighters were on scene.

He dismissed reports that an evacuation had been ordered in parts of Cape Town’s Deer Park and Vredehoek‚ but said “some residents had left the area on their own accord”.

Volunteer Wildfire Services‚ one of the firefighter organisations on scene‚ welcomed the return of the helicopters. VWS Wildfires ‏@vwsfires tweeted: “#Huey Choppers deployed by @TableMountainNP are now busy water-bombing #DeerParkFire. #GoodLuck to the pilots. They were missed last night”.

Layne said on Monday night that City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services had responded to the fire just after 9.30pm.

At the time‚ eight fire engines and four water tankers are on the scene. They were trying to stop the blaze from spreading to the residential area in Oranjezicht.

“The cause has not been determined as yet. No evacuation is required ordered at this stage. People are advised to close all windows and doors and wet any vegetation on their properties to prevent any embers from igniting fires‚" said Layne.

“Firefighters will remain on scene throughout the night extinguishing the fire.”

On Tuesday‚ WeatherSA again predicted “extremely high fire danger conditions” for “western parts of the Cape Metropole‚ West Coast District‚ Cape Winelands and Central Karoo of the Western Cape”‚ and while the wind is expected to die down a bit‚ highs of up to 34 degrees Celsius were forecast. @vwsfires tweeted: “Hot hot day on the cards‚ but at least the wind will have subsided a little. Going to be a tough day mopping up #DeerParkFire.”

- TMG Digital

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