Golf estate residents start evacuation as mountain fire threatens homes
Image: Twitter/Working on Fire
Several residents of a golf estate in Somerset West evacuated their homes on Saturday as a fire that has been burning since Wednesday spread towards them.
City of Cape Town fire service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said fire crews had been stationed to protect properties at Erinvale and elsewhere.
The fire started near Lourensford among pines on the slopes of the Helderberg. Carelse said 120 staff were involved in fighting it on Saturday.
“An incident management team has been established to manage the situation and currently firefighters from the city’s fire and rescue service, Working on Fire, CapeNature, Volunteer Wildland Services and Helderberg Nature Reserve are on the scene to help bring the blaze under control,” he said.
“The wind picked up considerably overnight, resulting in the fire in the inaccessible areas spreading to previously unaffected areas.
“One of these is the Helderberg Nature Reserve, but flames are still high up the mountain slopes.”
The Western Cape was experiencing a warm northerly berg wind on Saturday ahead of a cold front expected to unleash a deluge of rainfall starting on Sunday evening and continuing until Wednesday afternoon.
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