Fire crew remain on alert

THE blaze that engulfed more than 2 000 hectares of vegetation on the Franschhoek mountain range in the Boland is fully contained, said fire and rescue services yesterday.

Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto said CWDM Fire Services, together with their partners CapeNature and Winelands FPA and fire crews, fought tirelessly to contain the fire.

“This means the demobilisation schedule can now be addressed and mopping-up activities can begin. The fire needs to be completely cold for 48 hours before it can be considered extinguished,” Otto said.

The jagged and mostly inaccessible fire line was 9.5km in length and situated 3km inside the borders of the Cape Winelands district.

The blaze broke out in the Mooiwater area last Monday. According to Otto, there are now two factors causing concern. One is that the cold front predicted for tomorrow will be preceded by a north-westerly wind, which has the potential to reignite coals.

“The other factor is the fire line, which has moved over the top of the mountains to the old High Noon side… and made operations difficult.” In an effort to address this, 60 firefighters and crews were being flown in by two helicopters yesterday.

“(This) takes quite a bit of time as the helicopters can only take five crew members per trip,” Otto said.

There are 75 firefighters and ground crew members, supported by nine fire vehicles and two helicopters. The command centre remains operational for the next 24 hours.

“The services again thanks the community for the incredible support in the form of food, water, equipment and manpower,” Otto said.