Kramat burnt in raging Cape Town wildfire

Cii Radio| Ayesha Ismail| 13 October 2017| 22 Muharram 1439

Firefighting efforts have been intensified as a blaze between Camps Bay and Llandudno is still raging.

Table Mountain National Parks says that the wildfire has burnt through a historic Muslim burial site.

Crews have been working through the night trying to contain fire. As a precautionary measure the 12 Apostles Hotel and Spa had to be evacuated on Thursday night amid the encroaching fire.

The blaze had been burning on the slopes above Camps Bay and moved dangerously close to the luxury hotel on Thursday night. The raging fire drew a lot of concern and more fire fighters had to be deployed to the area this morning.

SANParks’ Merle Collins says that more firefighters are expected to be deployed to the area on Friday morning.

“The fire is still going strong. We have requested additional support from Working on Fire teams. The fire is high up on the mountains and has definitely spread to the back of Table Mountain National Park.”

Three helicopters and 150 firefighters have been deployed to tackle the blazing fire near the 12 Apostles Hotel in Camps Bay on Friday.

Fire manager for Table Mountain National Parks (TMNP) Philip Prins said the ground crew would tackle the left and right flanks of the fire, while the helicopters would spray seawater to prevent it from spreading further.

The fire on the mountain slopes above Camps Bay was sparked on Wednesday and was fanned by strong winds. At this stage it is still unclear what sparked the blaze.

Extracts – enca| EWN news| News24