Western cape fires
WC Disaster Management spends R10m on firefighting efforts this summer
Two blazes in the cape have kept fire crews busy since last weekend.
Over the weekend, parts of the Cape reached highs of 43°C, exacerbating those veld fire conditions.
Over 230 firefighters have been battling to contain the inferno which began six days ago and had already burnt over 8,000 hectares of vegetation.
Cape Winelands District Municipality's Jo-Anne Otto said the fire was still out of control, and crews were working round the clock to contain and control it.
The Overberg District Municipality's Fire Chief Reinhardt Geldenhuys said they were hoping to contain the fire on the northern slopes of the mountain by late Saturday afternoon.
They were deployed to fight the western flank of the blaze near Heidelberg on Thursday.
Firefighters worked through Thursday night battling a blaze in the mountains above McGregor.
Authorities are working with police to track down the two children believed to have started the fire.
In the Overberg, a runaway blaze left a trail of destruction outside Greyton while the second major blaze was raging in the Garden Route's Hessequa region.
Experts say residential fires, in particular, occur during sleeping hours and peak at around 1am.
In the Western Cape, no time has been wasted in getting the chopper into action. It was deployed last weekend to strafe fires in the Franschhoek area.
More than 6,000 hectares of vegetation was destroyed in the fire that erupted near the Cape Winelands town's mountain pass last Monday.
The blaze broke out a week ago and has destroyed more than 60,000 hectares of vegetation.
The fire broke out early this week outside Franschhoek.
Fifty-seven-year-old Jackie Valentyn died at Tygerberg Hospital just over two weeks ago after spending about a month at the facility in severe pain due to her injuries.
Apart from damage to state infrastructure, recent infernos have also gutted dozens of private homes.
The fire has been brought under control and no injuries have been reported at this stage.
Two people were injured as a result of the blaze earlier this week. No properties have been damaged.
Firefighters are monitoring the Table Mountain range, where a massive fire broke out on Signal Hill and Lion’s Head on Sunday.