Neighbouring municipalities have joined firefighting efforts in the far south after fire crews battling a defiant blaze on the slopes above Simon’s Town were confronted last night by a second front of flame along the Glencairn Expressway.
The latest fire was reported just before 8pm yesterday, according to City Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse.
It’s about 10km away from where hundreds of exhausted firefighters have been battling a dogged blaze in the Simon’s Town area since early on Tuesday morning.
“Crews were faced with extremely challenging conditions overnight, dealing with both the Simon’s Town and Glencairn fires,” Mr Carelse said on Friday morning.
He said the wind had picked up considerably and the Simon’s Town fire had spread over the mountain and was above Misty Cliffs and Scarborough, while the vegetation fire reported along Glencairn Expressway was heading towards the Stonehaven and Evergreen Estates, as of 6.45am on Friday.
“An executive decision was made that off-duty staff should report to Goodwood fire station to be deployed to the incidents, and the City also activated its agreement with neighbouring municipalities, securing assistance from the Stellenbosch, Drakenstein, Cape Winelands, Overstrand and West Coast fire services,” Mr Carelse said.
He said no staff or members of the public had been injured and no property had been damaged, but some residents of Stonehaven and Scarborough had been evacuated as a precaution.
The Glencairn Expressway is closed to traffic between Kommetjie Road and Simon’s Town Main Road.
The cause of the fires is unknown at this stage.
