Pearly beach
Firefighters are battling against pockets of fire in the town of Elim, after flames surrounded the town on Thursday night.
Heavy smoke and windy conditions limit the use of available aerial resources from Working on Fire (WOF)-Kishugu JV Huey and the Leading Edge Black Hawk.
The Overstrand Municipality said in an update, the fire is expected to grow in size, due to a forecasted wind direction change, expected to push the active lines back to unburnt areas.
The fire in Pearly beach has burnt up to 37,000 hectares in the Overberg District Municipality into Bredasdorp.
The Municipality said “we ask you to keep the town and firefighters in your thoughts whilst the Fire Services are working to protect the town.”
Affected areas but with no damage are Bredasdorp Elim rd, wine farms on the Elim Rd.
The fire has also spread to the Agulhas National Park.
The Stanford fire spread rapidly to Salmonsdam.
Teams from Animal Welfare Society South Africa, have rescued about 137 tortoises – 23 sadly perished in the fire, 3 puff adders and 1 cobra rescued and safely released and 6 birds that did not make it through the blaze.
Cape Winelands
The Cape Winelands District Municipality’s Fire Services, said the fire in Langrug, Franschhoek, remains out of control.
A reconnaissance flight will be conducted this morning to assess the full extent of the fire following last night’s activity.
Another fire in Stormsvlei, has spread by about 2 km, while the De Wet Cellar in Worcester was successfully contained.
Kouga
A helicopter was used to support ground teams, in three major fires, in Kromme River and Smith Town areas.
The Kouga Municipality said it is monitoring the impact of the electrical outage on water supply to St Francis Bay.
Veld fires also caused a major outage in the Kouga, Humansdorp and Sarah Baartman areas; on Thursday.
Eskom said it would wait for the areas to be declared safe, before sending technical teams.
Four major Eskom power lines that tripped affected Melkhout, Sunnyside, Kouga, Kromrivier, St Francis Bay, Dieprivier, Wittekleibosch, Humansdorp, Gibson Bay, Kareedouw, Tsitsikamma and Loutewater.
Eskom said by Friday morning, its teams had repaired all lines.
Grabouw
The Theewaterskloof Municipality said thick smoke across urban and surrounding farm areas in Grabouw, was caused by fires extinguished on Thursday night.
“Residents may experience discomfort caused by the thick smoke, including effects associated with dense fire clouds and pyrocumulonimbus formations.”
Important details: 👉 Animal Welfare Society of SA Bank: Nedbank
Account Type: Current Account
Account Number: 114 822 258 8
Branch Code: 198765
Reference: Fire Relief
👉 Online donations:
awscape.org.za/donation-form