Fires in Cape Town, South Africa
Smoke masking the sun
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Visitors to Cape Town this year must wonder what Capetonians do for fun.
After entering Cape Town through one of four mountain passes one could think that our favourite pastime was to burn our mountains.
Over the past three months Cape Town has been devastated by fires and in one weekend early in November a total of 86 fires were recorded, 61 of which were bushfires.
When the southeast wind starts pumping in December and the day temperatures rise to 30 degrees celsius and above
vegetation on the mountains and along roads around the Cape soon dry out and become a fire hazard.
Often smokers become careless and throw burning cigarettes out of car windows or simply drop the butt on the side of the road without putting it out.
The wind blows it into the veld and soon you have a bushfire on your hands.
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On weekends Capetonians love to make fires when its time for a beer and a braai.
It's not these that cause bush fires as a braai fire is normally controlled by a number of adult men who stand around it for hours partying while waiting for the coals to burn down.
According to reports most runaway fires are caused by negligence.
I will list some of the mountains devastated by fires since November.
Bainskloof Mountains above Wellington were destroyed when a fire started by children near the Eerste Tol, a small village at the top of the pass got out of control.
Once the wind caught the firet 15 kilometres of mountainside fynbos along the Bainskloof Pass was destroyed.
Fortunately the fire could be stopped at Tweede Tol in the pass but then the wind changed direction and the fire continued up over the top of the mountain and into the Paarl/ Wellington valley where it threatened farms in the valley.
At Rooi Els another runaway fire fanned by strong winds threatened the village and destroyed a number of houses built high up on the mountainside.
Two fires that were started near Franschhoek burned for days leaving the normally beautiful Hottentots Holland mountains blackened without so much as a blade of grass on them.
The first fire started at an informal settlement near Wemmershoek while the second a fire to burn rubbish got out of hand when the wind came up.
Du Toits Kloof Mountains with no vegetation after the fire
This fire burnt along the mountainside from Franschhoek as far as Du toit's Kloof pass where it was eventually put out.
The beautiful Simonsberg near Stellenbosch was also burnt when a fire got out of control.
It is estimated that approximately 23000 hectares of fynbos was destroyed by the above fires and this does not include the Bainskloof fire.
Table Mountain showing some of the devastation
Closer to Cape Town, Table Mountain, our premier tourist attraction, was also burnt when a fire driven by a strong south easter swept down the mountainside from just below the upper cable station.
This fire threatened houses on both sides of Kloof Nek and down into Camps Bay.
In other parts of Cape Town informal settlements also had their share of fires.
Local authorities in the Cape estimate that more than 8000 shacks have been destroyed by fire this summer affecting more than 30000 people.
When a fire starts in a shack, normally due to a candle falling over or a primus stove exploding, hundreds of people lose everything they have as the wood and iron and plastic shelters burn very quickly.
Because shacks are built very close together, the scene of the fire cannot always be reached by firefighting vehicles as there are no access roads them to use.
When this happens many more shacks than is necessary e burn down and people often lose their lives when they cannot be rescued.
So far this season authorities have spent in excess of R12 million in assisting victims of fires in the informal settlements.
The above expenditure does not take into account the cost of fighting the fires.
When a fire occurs in the mountains helicopters spend days in the air waterbombing them while at the same time ground crews assist in protecting property and damping down areas that have been burnt.
Fighting fires costs the authorities many millions each year,
Because most fires are caused by negligence authorities have decided to take firm action against people who start them.
Where negligence can be proven the culprit will be expected to foot the bill for the fire fighting as well as face criminal charges for lighting a fire in an area where it was unsafe to do so.
The public who lose property due to fires caused in the manner set out above will also have a claim against the culprit.
As a tour guide my job is to show visitors to our lovely city the beauty of Cape Town.
When people negligently start fires and our mountains are devastated everyone loses.
Let's all work together to keep Cape Town beautiful by not starting fires.
Geoff Fairman.
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