Houses burn down in Overberg
2008-05-06 12:54
Cape Town - Eight houses in the Overberg area in the Western Cape were consumed by veld fires on Tuesday, the municipality said.
Chief fire officer Reinard Geldenhuys said major fires were still raging in four areas.
Two of the fires were under control.
A fire in Betty's Bay had destroyed four houses, and one in Stanford gutted another four houses, he said.
A fire in Grabouw was not yet under control and Geldenhuys said he was not sure of the status of the fire in Genadendal.
Geldenhuys said the fires were "probably" caused by high tension electricity lines that broke and hit the ground when strong winds knocked down an electricity pole in the Stanford area.
The same strong winds caused the fire to spread.
- SAPA