Firefighters are battling a fresh fire that broke out in the Hout Bay area in the Western Cape in the early hours of Sunday‚ Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS Wildfires) said.
The volunteer service said on its Twitter feed that the blaze that was raging above Hout Bay Heights on the slopes of the Karbonkelberg.
Firefighters were battling flames in difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions‚ it said‚ adding that winds were “accelerating the spread of the flames”.
It was the second day of fires raging in the area. On Saturday two people were killed and over 2‚000 people left homeless after fire destroyed at least 650 homes in the Mandela Park informal settlement.
A total of nine people are known to have died in fires that have raged in the Cape Town region over the past three days. Apart from the two killed in Hout Bay‚ four people perished in a fire in Wesbank on Friday‚ while three people died in a blaze in Kosovo near Philippi on Saturday.
The fresh fire in Hout Bay was one of the reasons cited for the Cape Town Cycle Tour having to be cancelled on Sunday morning – with extreme adverse weather conditions‚ including gale-force winds‚ being the main reason for calling off the popular annual event.
Firefighters battle fresh fire in Hout Bay area
Firefighters are battling a fresh fire that broke out in the Hout Bay area in the Western Cape in the early hours of Sunday‚ Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS Wildfires) said.
The volunteer service said on its Twitter feed that the blaze that was raging above Hout Bay Heights on the slopes of the Karbonkelberg.
Firefighters were battling flames in difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions‚ it said‚ adding that winds were “accelerating the spread of the flames”.
It was the second day of fires raging in the area. On Saturday two people were killed and over 2‚000 people left homeless after fire destroyed at least 650 homes in the Mandela Park informal settlement.
A total of nine people are known to have died in fires that have raged in the Cape Town region over the past three days. Apart from the two killed in Hout Bay‚ four people perished in a fire in Wesbank on Friday‚ while three people died in a blaze in Kosovo near Philippi on Saturday.
The fresh fire in Hout Bay was one of the reasons cited for the Cape Town Cycle Tour having to be cancelled on Sunday morning – with extreme adverse weather conditions‚ including gale-force winds‚ being the main reason for calling off the popular annual event.
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