Cape Town shelters fire victims in halls and tents

The City of Cape Town is still tallying the numbers after fires over the weekend left 10 people dead.

A large informal settlement fire in Hout Bay on Saturday left desolation after it destroyed 3‚500 homes. Thousands of families are being temporarily sheltered in city halls across Hout Bay and under tents at the sports grounds.

A massive relief effort‚ led by City of Cape Town disaster management and various NGOs‚ was aided on Sunday with the cancellation of the Cape Town Cycle Tour. Disaster management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said the food and drinks which were bought for cyclists were redirected to help the residents of the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement.

• Wind‚ fire and protests put paid to Cape Town Cycle TourWind‚ fire and the risk of protest action resulted in the decision to cancel the 40th edition of the Cape Town Cycle Tour on Sunday. 

She said two adults and a child were killed in the fire while another person was in a critical condition in Victoria hospital.

“The rehabilitation process is under way and we are working very closely with the community‚ and government and other City services to possibly look at redesigning the settlement‚” she said.

• Firefighters battle fresh fire in Hout Bay areaFirefighters are battling a fresh fire that broke out in the Hout Bay area in the Western Cape in the early hours of Sunday‚ Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS Wildfires) said. 

Two other fires‚ in individual informal housing structures in Mandela Park and Kosovo informal settlement respectively caused the death of a further 7 people.

Two vegetation fires were also burning in the upper reaches of the mountains above Hout Bay and Somerset West respectively on Sunday.

• Misery of Mandela Park inferno leaves 4,000 homelessA warning of severe winds left Cape Town fearing more runaway fires today after nine people died in blazing shacks yesterday. 

They could not be reached by firefighters and the strong wind that led to the Cape Argus being cancelled prevented helicopters from water bombing.

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE