Fires cause death and destruction
By Khanyisa Tabata
16 April 2011
Cape Town Fire Services have called in all off-duty fire-fighters to help fight the massive fire raging in the Helderberg Mountains above Somerset West. People are being evacuated from their homes and at least 10 farms and other properties have been damaged.
Farmers have also appealed for help to get their horses out of harms way.
The fire started in the town’s nature reserve this morning. Spokesperson Theo Layne says three helicopters and three fixed-wing aircraft are helping the crews of 19 fire trucks fight the blaze.
In the South Peninsula, a young pregnant woman died in a fire in an informal settlement in Simon’s Town last night. The 25-year-old woman’s shack in the Red Hill settlement burnt down.
The lack of rain, high temperatures and a strong south-easterly wind has made parts of the Western Cape very susceptible to runaway fires.
16 April 2011
Cape Town Fire Services have called in all off-duty fire-fighters to help fight the massive fire raging in the Helderberg Mountains above Somerset West. People are being evacuated from their homes and at least 10 farms and other properties have been damaged.
Farmers have also appealed for help to get their horses out of harms way.
The fire started in the town’s nature reserve this morning. Spokesperson Theo Layne says three helicopters and three fixed-wing aircraft are helping the crews of 19 fire trucks fight the blaze.
In the South Peninsula, a young pregnant woman died in a fire in an informal settlement in Simon’s Town last night. The 25-year-old woman’s shack in the Red Hill settlement burnt down.
The lack of rain, high temperatures and a strong south-easterly wind has made parts of the Western Cape very susceptible to runaway fires.
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