Veld fire
Trapped in heatwave, firefighters battle Cape fires while SPCA appeals for help
The SPCA is appealing to anyone who can assist their desperate attempts to raise funds as they tend to survivors of the devasting Cape fires.
Sanpark's Table Mountain Environmental Services, Working on Fire and the Volunteer Wildfire fighting services were on the scene.
Rand Water has warned Gauteng residents that water will be severely restricted on Monday due to a power outage at the substation, which tripped during a veld fire on Sunday.
The MEC also cautioned residents from throwing bottles in the veld as they can magnify the sun’s rays and start fires.
The fire, which started in the Overberg a few days ago, spread into the Cape Winelands area late on Tuesday afternoon.
The blaze broke out earlier on Thursday.
The report says more fire risk assessments must be done in communities that border wildlife and it has also found that more should be done to control fire-prone alien vegetation around communities.
The blaze broke out on the Glenken Expressway, between Kommetjie and Simon's Town Roads.
Hot dry winds expected to blow until Tuesday whipped up the flames and heightened the urgency of evacuation orders, officials said.
Thick smoke has made it difficult to drive along the route between Villiers and Vrede in the Free State.
Firefighters are monitoring the blaze at Van Stadens Gorge and in the Rocklands area.
Families who were forced to flee their homes are camped out in a modest farm school hall.
Crews worked throughout the night to suppress two areas where active flames were burning in Lourensford.
It’s supposed to be the rainy season and yet the country hasn’t seen rain in more than two weeks.
SANParks’ Nandi Mgwadlamba says the fire has been contained with only a few hotspot areas being monitored.
The blaze, which started last night, is currently raging across the Windmill farm near the Tulbagh turn-off.
The blaze is believed to have started after a lightning strike in the Swartberg Mountains on Friday.
The R27 has been re-opened after being closed to traffic yesterday.
Eskom evacuated buildings around the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station as a precautionary measure.