Cape Winelands firefighters continue to battle Wellington blaze

The Cape Winelands District Municipality’s (CWDM) Fire Services, along with partners CapeNature and Winelands Fire Protection Services confirmed that active firefighting continues at the fire in Wellington that started earlier this week.

According to the fire services, there are currently 10 fire vehicles and crew from Cape Wineland’s District municipality, two from Drakenstein Municipality, and two ground teams of 10 members each from NCC.

Additionally, there are six ground teams of five members each from CapeNature’s contractors, Working on Fire.

According to CWDM spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto, Thursday’s hot weather caused some flare-ups that were exacerbated by the wind, which picked up substantially later in the day.

“In the areas of Rooshoek and Foxenburg, fire crews had their hands full as the fire moved quickly towards some houses. However, they were able to divert the fire, and no damages occurred.”

Otto added that the creation of fire breaks and other recognized fire suppression techniques, such as back burning, is being applied to drive the fire lines towards already burnt areas.

Teams are expected to stay on to work through the night on Thursday, managing new flare-ups, protecting property where necessary, and where possible, continuing with monitoring and mopping-up operations.

On Tuesday, the municipality confirmed that the fire that started in Bainskloof burnt out of control and, driven by strong winds and very high fuel loads, moved down into Slangrivier and the Bo-Hermon road.

The fire travelled down to the Slangrivier Road where it jumped and moved into the Bo-Hermon area.

“Wind conditions are favourable, but the very hot weather is making firefighting efforts uncomfortable.”