The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services are battling a blaze on Tygerberg Hills.
The fire, which was reported shortly after 7:30 am this morning, is currently burning through vegetation on the hillside. Earlier this morning, the City’s Safety and Security Mayco Member JP Smith shared details of the incident on his social media platforms.
Smith announced that the City had dispatched firefighting resources to the scene of the fire to attend to the blaze, but that due to the location of the fire, units were unable to reach the blaze.
He said: “At 07h35 this morning, we received a call of a fire in Tygerberg mountains. We despatched several resources but the fire was in an inaccessible location. A total of 11 of our firefighting appliances are on the scene. Aerial resources have been activated but at this stage, no properties are at threat.”
An update at 3pm revealed that while the blaze was not yet contained, more resources had been dispatched to the hillside to put out the blaze.
The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said that 20 firefighting resources were now on the scene, including 4 x 4 vehicles, as the terrain is mostly gravel with steep gradients.
Carelse said: “The vegetation fire on Tygerberg Hills which was reported at 07:35, is not yet under control. However, more resources have been deployed to the scene. These include two choppers that will continue to water bomb the area.”
“Meanwhile, a few firefighters have so far been attended to for heat exhaustion, fortunately, no injuries have been reported as yet. Residents of Kanonberg Estate and Oude Westhof are being evacuated as a precaution,” Carelse said.
According to the City, so far the cause of the blaze has not yet been established, however, authorities are looking into it.
nomalanga.tshuma@inl.co.za