More teams called in as Cape fire rages

January 29 2013 at 10:47pm

Johannesburg - More firefighting teams will be brought in to assist as the blaze in the Western Cape winelands continues, Working on Fire (WoF) said on Tuesday.

WoF spokesperson Linton Rensburg said a meeting of disaster management teams, firefighters and government officials on Tuesday afternoon decided that 10 more firefighting teams should be brought in.

“The 10 teams come from across the country and by tomorrow we should have around 395 more firefighters here,” he said.

A total of 14 teams had initially been deployed to fight the blaze.

Five other teams that had been on standby were brought in from the Eastern Cape and Free State on Tuesday morning, said Rensburg.

While the fire in the Cederberg mountains was contained in the early hours of the morning, Rensburg said they were still battling with the one in the Franschhoek area.

“We are working around the clock. We have helicopters and water bombers deployed,” he said.

Around 10 helicopter water bombers, eight spotter planes, eight fixed wing water bombers and 37 pilots have been deployed by WoF to fight the fires.

- Sapa/IOL