Western Cape on high alert as fires continue ravage

A veld fire in the vicinity of Pearly Beach in the Overstrand Municipality of the Western Cape is still burning out of control. The fire started on Friday afternoon.

Overstrand fire chief Lester Smith says a helicopter and firefighting teams from the local municipalities, Working on Fire and Cape Nature are on the scene.

Smith says the fire is burning in two places – one on the mountain side and the other on the seaside between Pearly Beach and Uilkraalmond.

“Currently it’s thick vegetation that’s burning, some areas especially, the one flank on the mountain side, there is no access for vehicles due to the thick vegetation. The objective of the helicopter is to ensure that we cut off the head of the fire because that it the on eat the Pearly beach side. Currently no infrastructures are in danger.”

Meanwhile, a woman and a young boy have died in separate fires in the Strand near Cape Town. The woman’s house burnt down, while the boy died in fire in a nearby informal settlement.

Dozens of people have been left destitute in this shack fire as well as another fire in an informal settlement in Delft.

Cape Town’s Fire Chief, Theo Layne, says all the incidents have been handed over to the police for investigation.  He says the cause of the fires is not yet known.