South Peninsula firefighting efforts continue
The City of Cape Town's Fire and Rescue Service continues to lead the charge with the assistance of a host of other agencies in bringing a massive fire in the South Peninsula under control.
A helicopter reconnaissance was carried out this morning and currently the fire has to be contained in three sectors: Chapman's Peak on the Hout Bay side, Tokai Forest, and Noordhoek. The fire is high up on the mountain slopes and ground crews are dealing with sporadic flare-ups. They are also monitoring the situation in Clovelly near Kalk Bay, but there is no threat to lives or property in that area at this stage.
Two helicopters are water-bombing parts of Hout Bay to safeguard properties along Military Road, Hugo Street, and Avenue Suzanne. A few properties along the Noordhoek side of Chapman's Peak are also under threat at this stage. There has, however, been no damage to any other properties since yesterday.
‘The fact that the wind died down considerably yesterday has certainly aided the efforts of fire crews on the ground. Some rain has also been forecast for tomorrow. Hopefully that will also bring some relief, but for the moment we are dealing with very high temperatures today and a lot of pressure still on the staff. This has been a massive effort thus far and I commend all of the agencies involved for their hard work in trying to save lives and property,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
Chapman's Peak Drive remains closed to traffic as well as Boyes Drive between the golf course and Old Boyes Drive.