SIGNAL HILL FIRE: VIDEOS AND REACTIONS

After having written about all the recent fires in Cape Town earlier this week, I concluded that the abnormal number of them surely points to the work of arsonists. This was subsequently corrected by Rob Erasmus from Enviro Wildfire Services who confirmed that 99% of vegetation fires in Cape Town are from negligence. Lo and behold, two new fires emerged yesterday that had social media abuzz.

The first fire was on the slopes of Gordon’s Bay and the second on Signal Hill, which had City firefighters and volunteer services on scene in numbers. Before long, three choppers were deployed to battle the Signal Hill blaze, which spread quickly due to an unforgiving South Easter. A tough night was had for all involved as the fire spread into a gully that was difficult to reach due to dense vegetation.

By 12:30 am, the fire had been reduced to several patches of embers. Great work! Before our Joburg counterparts take a potshot at us for getting over-excited about a fire, just know that we get more excited about the incredibly efficient work of Volunteer Wildlife Services.

Good luck to the @vwsfires teams going out to #SignalHill wildfire. Be safe, take care and good luck! @945Kfm @News24

— VWS Wildfires (@vwsfires) February 19, 2015

RT @darrynvdwalt: Fire still raging on #signalhill Helicopters back & forth dumping water from reservoirs pic.twitter.com/4VlZUNQ15B — VWS Wildfires (@vwsfires) February 19, 2015

If I had to imagine what hell looked like, this picture pretty much sums it up #SignalHillFire pic.twitter.com/Dq632IcmWj — What The Blog! (@WhatTheBlogZA) February 19, 2015

Choppers killing fire #tamboerskloof #signalhillfire A video posted by Lucas Swart (@lucas_swart) on Feb 19, 2015 at 9:19am PST

Sunstar and Firefighters on the ground @vwsfires @TableMountainCa @wo_fire #SignalHillFire @TheCapeArgus #Sunstar pic.twitter.com/k2yMpS9E13 — AG Kent (@Kenty7p5) February 19, 2015

#SignalHill #FireOnTheMountain #Yesterday at about. 17:45. Pls excuse this guy’s singing – he’s just having a good time #ASA is the artist and there’s a wonderful message in the lyrics. Take a good listen next time. #CapeTown #City #Fire – #AGITPROP A video posted by Irshaad Ally (@irshaadally) on Feb 19, 2015 at 9:29pm PST

“I see fire, inside the mountain. I see fire, burning the trees.” #SignalHillFire #CapeTown pic.twitter.com/o3caX3Z1W1

— Nicole Buchmann (@Nicole_Buchmann) February 20, 2015

Next stop Vredehoek. Lights in centre of photo is what remains. Fire is definitely on its last legs. Still a lot of trucks up there though. #capetown #signalhill #SignalHillFire #iphone5s #vredehoek   A photo posted by Cape Town Etc (@capetownetc) on Feb 19, 2015 at 1:52pm PST