Wind-wary firefighters stay on high alert
2013-01-29 22:33
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Veld fires have broken out across the Western Cape. See alll the pictures.
Cape Town - Firefighters are continuing to battle fires in the Cape Winelands, as winds which earlier gusted at 40km/h started picking up again.
Cape Winelands municipality fire station in Stellenbosch Royston Harris, said the blaze was still "high up in the mountains" amid concerns that properties were in danger.
He said that the blaze had now stretched as far as the Du Toits Kloof Pass, and emergency personnel would remain on alert as the wind started picking up again.
Harris said that firefighters had backburned a fire which had edged closer to the prestigious Val De Vie Estate.
Earlier, AFP reported that authorities declared a code red emergency in the region, with resources stretched to the limit.
Emergency services struggled to put out a series of blazes, deploying four helicopters, 13 vehicles and 120 firefighters.
Separate blazes raged on mountains near both Franschhoek and Paarl, while several smaller fires smouldered, sending dense smoke over the area and obscuring the mountains which draw tourists to the area in droves.
A total of 7 100ha of land including farmlands, alien vegetation and indigenous fynbos have already been destroyed.
Two workers' cottages were burned down and two farms had to be temporarily evacuated.
No deaths have been reported, but a warning has been issued to residents to be alert.
Firefighters were battling difficult conditions to put out the flames, Liesl Brink, incident command spokesperson for the fire fighting effort said.
"There is quite a strong wind out here, the wind's blowing at 40km/h, it's also very hot, temperatures are soaring above 30°C", she said.
The cause of the blaze is still unknown.
But according to Brink, many fires at this time of year - when wind and hot summer months provide "perfect conditions for runaway fires" - had been shown to be caused by people, often children.
The fire started on Sunday in Franschhoek and was moving towards nearby Paarl.
Choppers laden with water bombs circled the area on Tuesday, dropping their payload before rushing back to a make-shift control centre.
Back up teams have been called in from around the country.
"The fire has been declared a code red meaning that we've used all of our available resources and are pulling all the resources that we can," Brink said.
