Firefighters' battle to contain Cape fires
Firefighters have worked tirelessly to bring raging fires on the Cape Peninsula under control as the region faced windy conditions.
A strong south-easterly wind has fanned a fire that has destroyed at least 13 homes in an informal settlement yesterday.
Officials say the blaze had spread to Ocean View, Misty Cliffs and Kommetjie while firefighters worked to douse the fire overnight.
The City of Cape Town issued a fire alert while Table Mountain National Park issued an urgent warning of wild fires spreading through the reserve.
The SPCA was also involved in rescue operations - taking in tortoises, porcupines and grysbokkies affected by the smoke.
It is reported over 200 firefighters, 30 vehicles and an aerial firefighting team have worked to contain the blaze.
The weather forecast for the week ahead has also raised some concerns, officials say.
Like a scene from a movie... the #ScarboroughFire blazed in the early hours. pic.twitter.com/yuG7g31NYi
— VWS Wildfires (@vwsfires) January 11, 2016#capefire 2 Update, fire still burning at misty cliffs towards ocean view 4-way stop, scarborough and misty cliffs. pic.twitter.com/wnwRGsthrw
— Merentia v d Vent (@Merentia) January 11, 2016Our Gardens & Waterfront stores making a delivery to help our brave firefighters! #capetownfire #capefire pic.twitter.com/CoJHKSobNW
— Pick n Pay (@PicknPay) January 11, 2016#capeFire RT @garethjlawrence: @vwsfires @KFMza #DevilsPeakFire still blazing. Helicopters doing a lot of work pic.twitter.com/gi6gUlvPUU
— Cape Town (@CapeTown) January 10, 2016#capetown Today fires broke out all around Cape Town. We managed to arrive on the scene at one of them by coinciden… pic.twitter.com/oMA82Wj2a6
— alett (@alettlewis) January 9, 2016The video below, courtesy of News24, shows the extent at which the fire spread.