[imagesource:mikeeloff]
Those Capetonians that managed to get some sleep last night are waking up to the sound of choppers and the smell of ash this morning, with last night’s fire still being fought tirelessly by our firefighters.
We’ll get to the current situation in due course, but for now let’s focus on last night, with some families along the Atlantic seaboard evacuating their homes as the fire neared their properties.
TimesLIVE reports:
The fire broke out around 3.30pm near Quarry Hill Road, and the wind quickly pushed it towards Fresnaye and upper Sea Point.
Shortly after sunset, cautious concern began to turn into panic as 5m flames became visible on Signal Hill through thick black smoke, threatening houses.
It’s not hard to see why some people chose to evacuate, as these videos show:
Top of Avenue Bordeaux in Fresnaye, #SeaPoint. Residents all standing around watching. Fire engine just arrived. #LionsHeadFire #SignalHillFire #CapeTownFire pic.twitter.com/etWj9QcWhk
— Roy McKenzie (@RoyMcK) January 27, 2019
For a pretty unique aerial perspective, you won’t do much better than this:
Another perspective from the air of the #LionsHeadFire that is still unfolding in Cape Town tonight. Due to the 2018 drought, Cape Town has never been drier. #capetownfire #SignalHillFire pic.twitter.com/4jBJpqFxnm
— Joseph Dana (@ibnezra) January 27, 2019
This from @LifeOfMikeZA shows just how widespread the flames were:
This from @superbmx on Instagram:
This from @jimmyjinga:
The wind did the firefighters no favours:
After one of the worst droughts in a hundred years and gale force winds, Lion’s Head went up in flames tonight in Cape Town. Fire is ongoing. These firefighters are heroes. #capetownfire #LionsHeadFire #SignalHillFire pic.twitter.com/zCAgekusUQ
— Joseph Dana (@ibnezra) January 27, 2019
And this:
View this post on Instagram
Even UK outlet the Guardian covered the story, sharing this video:
EWN covered the firefighters’ efforts, too:
When you see those videos and images above, you realise exactly what those who fight the flames are up against.
Quite miraculously, our firefighters have managed to get the fire under control, as per a News24 report at around 8AM:
The fire that burned on Lion’s Head on Sunday appears to be under control on Monday morning.
Teams from the City of Cape Town worked to beat the blaze, which raged overnight.
“We’ve still got fire trucks on the scene,” Richard Coleman, City of Cape Town Traffic Services spokesperson told News24.
“We’ve still got Signal Hill road closed,” he said, adding that it wasn’t making an impact on traffic flows…
Images from this morning show how the flames have been fought back, with efforts ongoing:
Tireless.
Absolutely tireless.
We all owe our firefighters a massive, massive amount of gratitude, with Volunteer Wildfire Services, a non-profit volunteer organisation, saying that some donations are still needed:
If you are unable to drop goods off at the Newlands base, you can make a donation to VWS via Snapscan:
You can find further info on how to support VWS here.
