The scenic views from Boyes Drive in Cape Town will be closed to the public after a vegetation fire was reported on Wednesday afternoon.
The slopes above Boyes Drive caught alight just after 11am.
The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, confirmed the incident.
“Firefighters are attending to vegetation alight on the mountain slopes above Boyes Drive. The Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to the incident at about 11.30am,” Carelse said.
He said additional assistance has been requested.
“Currently, we have six firefighting vehicles and over 30 staff members on site, and additional resources are en route. TMNP has deployed ground crews to assist in firefighting efforts.
“Three helicopters are water-bombing the areas inaccessible to ground crews.
“Boyes Drive is closed between Old Boyes Drive and Clairvaux Road in Kalk Bay,” Carelse said.
Currently, the City of Cape Town has favourable weather conditions; however, wind speeds seem to be increasing as the day progresses.
In December, firefighters battled a vegetation fire for days on the mountain slopes in Simon’s Town that threatened the lives, animals, homes, and properties of those in the area.
Heavy wind conditions resulted in 24-hour manning of the fire which, due to string winds, spread across the mountain to Glencairn.
Exhausted firefighters battled the blaze for nearly a week.
After the fire, Working on Fire (WoF) launched a project to empower the community with fire safety skills in the Simon’s Town area.
WoF spokesperson, Limakatso Khalianyane said the following steps have been taken to empower members of the community.
“The WoF Newlands Team, visited the Red Hill informal settlement on Friday to conduct a door-to-door fire awareness presentation. During this initiative, community members were educated on effective measures to protect themselves and their properties from runaway fires. This initial effort marks the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with community leaders to extend more extensive workshops,” Khalianyane said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL