Firemen rush to combat mountain fires

It's a race against time as fire-fighters were moved in by helicopter yesterday to still-burning Western Cape mountain peaks outside Somerset West.

While most of the fires near Sir Lowry's Pass have been contained after firefighters battled fires there since last Tuesday, areas around Lourensford Wine Estate and the upper parts of Helderberg mountain are still burning.

Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services incident commander Gert Cilliers said firefighters and air crews were working to contain the fires, but strong winds yesterday were hampering efforts.

• WATCH: Battling the Somerset blazeExperience what it’s like to be a firefighter battling the blaze in the Western Cap

"The fire is high up in the mountain. We have asked Cape Nature to fly its teams to the top so they can pat down flames from the top down towards our direction."

He said the fires were sometimes difficult to get to, with strong winds making it impossible for helicopters to drop water.

• WATCH: Unemployed man does his bit to help fire-fighters tackle Somerset West infernoAs fires raged through Somerset West and the Hottentots-Holland mountains‚ residents from affected areas jumped in to help the firefighters who have been hard at work dousing the flames.

Cilliers said the fire on top of the mountain was also too high for helicopters to drop water on the flames.

"The kloofs are such that the helicopters can't go in there. We have bulldozers clearing the way."

But he said it was unlikely that the fire would spread.

"But, if Cape Nature can't get its men in there and the wind comes up, we could see a further spread," said Cilliers.

City of Cape Town safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith said military helicopters were brought in at the weekend to help to fight the mountain fire.