South African military join firefighters to control wildfire near Cape Town

Over a hundred South African military officials have joined firefighters to control wildfires that started burning since Wednesday in Simon’s Town near Cape Town.

The commander of the Naval Base in the mountain town, Adrian Dutton, told news portal News24 that military team deployed to fight the fire since Wednesday are motivated to fight the fires.

Hazy skies &helicopters up above #simonstownfire pic.twitter.com/hsKz83cTWE

— Cathi Trevor (@cathi_trevor) January 11, 2017

“Approximately 120 sailors have been fighting day and night to fight the blaze. Two South African Air Force helicopters have also been deployed to assist the city … I spoke to crews at a briefing last night and everyone was really energised to go back and help fight the fires,” he said.

The Cape Town fire service has said on Thursday that the fire is under control as 120 firefighters are on the ground to control the fire.

#SimonsTownFire taken from our balcony. Simonskloof embers still burning. pic.twitter.com/MiprA5hqeo

— Fatima Hoosen RD (@F4t1m4) January 11, 2017

“We are currently on scene to deal with several hotspots and flare-ups. The smoke is certainly much less than yesterday,” spokesperson of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Liezl Moodie told News24.

The fire spread from another town, Ocean View, and residents of Simon’s Town were evacuated to control the fire.

The source of the fire and cost of damage to property are unknown. The wind and dry vegetations is believed to have caused the quick spread of the fire.

The strength of the wind yesterday the #OceanViewFire #SimonsTownFire up at Red Hill NCCwildfires CPFPA1 wo_fire EnviroWildfires pic.twitter.com/xfd9uyRjH2

— Nick (nickgatesCPT) January 12, 2017