Firefighters in Cape City on Wednesday had been battling a wildfire that broke out in Desk Mountain Nationwide Park and unfold in a single day towards the town, native authorities mentioned.
The wildfire has burned for a number of days within the Newlands space, excessive within the mountainous slopes of the park, however robust gusting winds pushed it towards Cape City’s central enterprise district in a single day, hearth and park officers mentioned.
The scale of the fireplace and the extent of any potential property harm was nonetheless being decided, mentioned Edward Bosch, a spokesman for the Cape City Hearth and Rescue Service. However he described the blaze as “intensive.” He mentioned there was no risk to the downtown space as of Wednesday morning, however famous that would change relying on the wind and different elements all through the day.
Trails in Desk Mountain Nationwide Park, a preferred climbing spot for residents and vacationers, had been closed after the fireplace started earlier this week. As of Monday, the fireplace had burned by means of no less than 148 acres of land, according to a physique accountable for managing the nationwide park, which mentioned on Monday that it was involved about “the continued presence of hikers in areas which have been closed off.”
A second hearth, within the Purple Hill area of the park, was additionally burning on Wednesday morning.
No evacuations had been ordered, Mr. Bosch mentioned. Two helicopters had been water-bombing the fireplace since dawn on Wednesday, he mentioned, and a 3rd helicopter was on its manner from the close by city of Stellenbosch.
“If the circumstances are favorable as we speak, then it needs to be underneath management by as we speak,” he mentioned.
Park officers mentioned that greater than 80 firefighters from numerous businesses had been dispatched to fight the fireplace. Operators of a cable automobile working from Desk Mountain to the central district mentioned in a social media post on Wednesday that it could shut till additional discover due to smoke from the wildfires.
Several major mountain fires have burned within the Western Cape province in recent times. Residents of Cape City, who reside near the mountain’s foothills, are particularly involved. Ecologists have urged nationwide park officers to conduct extra prescribed burnings of vegetation to cease uncontrollable wildfires.
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