Firefighters still battling Somerset West blaze
The Disaster Risk Management Centre said more than R53m in structural damage alone had been estimated since the blaze started.
A fireman fights a vegetation fire that has been burning in the mountains for the last two days above the town of Somerset West, on January 4, 2017, about 50km from the centre of Cape Town. The fire has raged through the area known for its wine production, damaging several vineyards and destroying three buildings. / AFP PHOTO / RODGER BOSCH
After six days, firefighters continued to battle a fire blazing in Somerset West in Cape Town on Monday.
Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesperson Theo Layne said more than R53 million in structural damage alone had been estimated so far. The fire has been raging for six days.
Layne said the main objective was to ensure that the fire didn’t jump over already burnt areas into living vegetation.
“The wind, as well as the terrain [on the mountain], aren’t helping. The ground crew are traversing the terrain at the moment, basically firefighters are having to do some mountain climbing,” he said.
Approximately 300 firefighters, including volunteers, were on the scene on Monday.
READ MORE: Pulling together to fight Somerset West fires
The South African Weather Service predicted 37km/h winds, which are expected to drop to 28km/h today, but increase to a staggering 46km/h by Friday.
Layne said the fire started two weeks ago in the Grabouw area, on the other side of the Hottentots-Holland mountain range, but then spread rapidly once it was fed by the winds and raged into the Helderberg basin.
The basin is home to wine farms and popular sites used by film crews.
But Layne said fires were not unusual at this time of year.
There were about 50 to 60 blazing vegetation fires, which were being fought on Monday. He said towards the end of this month and February the number of fires per day may increase to 80 or 90.
What triggered the Grabouw fire was being investigated.
Layne said to date no serious injuries had been reported. Some firefighters had been treated for smoke inhalation.
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