Arson suspected as scores of Cape fires threaten lives, property

Western Cape premier Helen Zille, families in upmarket Cape Town suburbs and Winelands farmworkers have something in common today - terror - as a firestorm tears through the province.

Watch: Cape Town resident returns to burnt home after evacuation

Zille woke to the sound of helicopters as they swooped to fight a raging blaze in Cape Town's City Bowl suburbs as her neighbours fled their homes.

At the same time, 60km away in the Winelands town of Paarl, dozens ran from the flames as the blazes tore through the area with such frequency and ferocity that some are asking if they were started deliberately.

• Fires indiscriminate as they wreak heartbreak and trauma across Cape societyWestern Cape Premier Helen Zille‚ suburban families in upmarket Cape Town and Winelands farm workers share something in common today - the terror of the firestorm tearing through the province.

The devastation runs through the Cape Peninsula, along the West Coast and Cape Winelands. The air force is assisting in dousing the flames with water bombing.

Watch: 'We tried to stay calm for the kids' – Eyewitness details Cape Town fire evacuation

Yesterday alone, 19 fires were burning, said Anton Bredell, the environment and local government MEC.

In Paarl, the fire destroyed Calais Wine Estate, which dates back to 1692.

The flames have wrought heartbreak and trauma but no deaths have been recorded.

Adrian and Jane Maritz - from the middle-class suburb of Vredehoek - said they fled with their pets, their 22-month-old adopted son and their most precious documents, including his adoption papers.

In Paarl, Johannes Mentoor, who works on De Kleine Bos farm, escaped with nothing.

• Workers evacuated as wildfire guts historic wine farm in Paarl areaMore than 100 people were evacuated and an historic wine farm building was destroyed as a fierce wildfire raged in the Paarl area on Tuesday.

Watch: Residents flee homes as fires rage on Table Mountain

Adrian, a software designer, said this was the first blaze to threaten his house.

"You've got 15 minutes to walk around the house and take out the stuff that is super-important and then you kind of just have to say: 'If it's going to go, it's going to go'," said Jane. Their home was unscathed.

They praised the firefighters who had fallen asleep from exhaustion on the pavements of Pinetree Crescent, in Vredehoek, at the foot of Table Mountain.

About 160 Cape Town firefighters with 15 fire engines, four water tankers, five bush tenders and six skid units and support staff were assisted by 70 Table Mountain National Park employees in the Vredehoek area.

"You realise when you're walking out of here at 2am and the blaze is right here, [threatening] your life, your house, your belongings, everything you've spent the past 30 years building, that there's only a little fireman between you and [losing] your life," Jane said.

Grant van Helsdingen and Laurence Aadnesgaard said they were alerted at 5am yesterday that their house was on fire. They had evacuated a few hours earlier.

Firefighters had to break down the front door and the security gate to save their house.

"Our friend was in Long Street ... and we had to phone him to say: 'Come back. The house is on fire. You have to evacuate'," said Van Helsdingen. "We had been up all night watching the fire and our neighbours were freaking out. We kept going up to the mountain to see how far it had spread."

Meanwhile, about 200 firefighters were also trying to bring the fire in Paarl under control in the face of howling winds.

• Air force to deploy more helicopters to help fight fires in Western CapeThe 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.

About 100 people - many of them farmworkers - were forced to evacuate their homes.

A pregnant Moroaan Minaar told of how she and her grandmother sought refuge at the Dal Josaphat Primary School.

"We had to leave [home] at 7am because the smoke was too much. It affected my grandmother, who couldn't breathe," said Minaar, who is due to give birth soon.

The City of Cape Town said that, between November 1 and January 12, it had responded to 5465 fires - an average of 75 a day.

Zille raised questions about the cause of the fires on Twitter yesterday.

"These are the major fires our firefighters are currently battling to contain. Can this be accidental or coincidental?#JustAsking".

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for social services, and for safety and security, said: "The spate of fires is truly suspicious and we have an investigations team that is looking into it.

"We cannot rule out that the fires are being started deliberately."