Winelands fire fuelled by alien vegetation

Firefighters have extinguished a mountain fire that briefly threatened some farm dwellings between Ceres and Wolseley in the Western Cape earlier this week.

Mop-up teams are on site in case of flare-ups, but the fire is now inactive, with flare-ups considered unlikely due to the cold weather.

Winelands municipality spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto said the fire had been fuelled largely by alien vegetation, which hampered firefighting efforts. She said the blaze, which started on veld behind the Waverley Hills Organic Wine farm, had briefly threatened agri-worker homes before changing course. “We managed to avert the fire from that area,” Otto told TimesLIVE, adding a fire was not considered completely extinguished until 24 hours after the last flare-up.

It was the second big blaze of the fire season, both of them spanning areas of mostly alien vegetation.  Though the increased frequency of wildfires is damaging to the natural environment, the blaze does afford the chance to conduct follow-up alien clearing, Otto said. 

Alien vegetation depletes underground water and adds to water scarcity.  It also burns at a higher temperature than indigenous fynbos, which makes firefighting more hazardous.

TimesLIVE