300 firefighters braced for flare-up of Simon's Town fire as wind picks up

A change in wind direction and intensity was expected to cause a flare-up of the Simon’s Town wildfire‚ the City of Cape Town said on Thursday afternoon.

“Firefighting crews are on hand to deal with flare-ups as soon as they occur‚” said fire and rescue spokesman Theo Layne.

“Crews will remain on scene for the remainder of the day and night monitoring the area as it is expected that the wind speed will increase to more than 40km/h.”

Layne said one house and a garden shed had been destroyed by Wednesday’s fire. Six other homes had sustained partial damage.

There were still 310 firefighters on duty — half from the city council and the rest from Table Mountain National Park and Working on Fire.

“Two helicopters from the South African National Defence Force and one helicopter contracted to Table Mountain National Park have resumed water bombing flare-ups on the upper slopes of the mountain‚” said Layne.

TMG Digital/Sunday Times