It’s day four of the Cape fire and though the light rain we’re experiencing is helping matters, the blaze is far from any definition of ‘out’.
We’ve just learnt that Cape Point is on fire but that the area is contained:
We can confirm that there is a fire at #CapePoint at Gifkommetjie. It is under control and being managed. Further entry for today closed.
— CapePoint (@CapePointSA) March 4, 2015
According to Helen Zille, it could take until the weekend to control the blaze entirely. However she has said that the Cape Town Cycle Tour is likely to go ahead as planned, though the usually scenic route will now be one of ‘heart-wrenching devastation’.
She had more to say:
The "fire tourists" are not helping matters. Please rather watch on TV but do not go out "rubbernecking" today. It makes things worse.
— Helen Zille (@helenzille) March 4, 2015
In a media statement released earlier today, the City of Cape Town says, ‘Currently, the firefighting efforts are focused on the following hotspots: Lower Constantia Nek and the upper Tokai area, Clovelly, Fish Hoek, Kalk Bay, Hout Bay and Noordhoek. Boyes Drive, Chapman’s Peak Drive, and Clovelly Road remain closed to traffic, as well as Price Road and Schoenstatt (Groot Constantia) and Ou Wingerd Road.’
Though there has been extensive damage to property, not a single life has been lost to the fire, for which we can be grateful. One firefighter has been treated for burn wounds and is in hospital, and 52 frail-care residents of a Noordhoek retirement village were treated for smoke inhalation.
Though the calls for donations have stopped, City requests that those in areas not in danger from the fire use water sparingly:
#CapeTownFire Update: Reducing water consumption in the South Peninsula will allow reservoirs to maintain manageable operating levels.
— City of CT Alerts (@CityofCTAlerts) March 4, 2015
#CapeTownFire update: This will ensure effective supply of water to emergency service teams.
— City of CT Alerts (@CityofCTAlerts) March 4, 2015
Hats off to Dale Steyn, who kept it together for the Proteas halfway across the world in Australia even after hearing his house in Stonehurst, Westlake, was dangerously close to being burnt down. More on that here.
One thing is for sure: this will go down as the best documented natural tragedy in Cape Town’s history, with photographers out in full force to capture the violence and devastation of the blaze in order to raise awareness.
Photography Juliette Bisset/HSMimages.co.za