Firefighters have been stretched to the limit over the past eight days of the holiday season, with off-duty officers called in to contain blazes that have raged across the Cape Peninsula.

On  Boxing Day on Tuesday, the city said it had responded to 42 incidents involving informal structure fires between 24 and 26 December, and the City’s Fire and Rescue Service was battling another flare-up on the Glencairn Expressway.

More than 100 homes, affecting about 900 people, were destroyed in three informal settlements in fires on Sunday and Christmas Day morning. Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said 135 structures were destroyed in the Hillview informal settlement in Capricorn near Muizenberg, 60 in Jim se Bos outside Mitchells Plain and 45 in Wallacedene on the eastern outskirts of Kraaifontein. 

The city’s Fire and Rescue services make their way to Capricorn as hundreds of people have lost their homes as a fire ripped through the Hillview Heights informal settlement on 24 December 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

A bleak Christmas for residents of Hillview, Capricorn as hundreds of people have lost their homes as a fire ripped through the settlement. (Photo: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

The city’s Fire and Rescue services in operation in Capricorn as a fire ripped through the Hillview Heights informal settlement. (Photo: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

“The City, supported by nonprofit organisations Gift of the Givers and Islamic Relief SA, provided mattresses, hot meals, blankets, baby-care packs, clothing and toiletry packs to those affected,” she said.

Gift of the Givers operations manager Ali Sablay said that, owing to strong winds “it was impossible to save anything at Hillview. As soon as the structures caught light the wind spread the fire at a rapid pace.” 

Community leaders had told his team that all the “new clothing and food items they had prepared for Christmas were completely burnt out”.

New beginning 

Gift of the Givers is providing humanitarian aid in Hillview, where resident Richard Luck told Daily Maverick he had lost all his belongings in the fire. “There is nothing to do or say, to be quite honest… my family and many others, we have lost everything.” 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Fire season — Crews battle Simon’s Town mountain fire days after devastating Dunoon inferno

Luck said he was grateful that none of his family members had been hurt. “All we can do is to thank God that we still have life. What a Christmas we’re having. We are going to have to take it as a new beginning. There is nothing much to do, at least that’s how I feel about this whole situation.”  

‘Suffered a seizure’

Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said the emergency call from Hillview was received at 4.40pm on Christmas  Eve and numerous firefighting resources were deployed to help at the settlements. “Four civilians sustained burn wounds, but refused further medical treatment after being assessed on site. A fifth civilian suffered a seizure and was taken to hospital. Three firefighters also sustained burn wounds and two of them were transported to hospital.” 

 Read more at Daily Maverick: Simon’s Town smoke envelops city — firefighters near Scarborough, Glencairn, Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town continue to fight flames

On Christmas Day, a spotter plane circled as two helicopters water-bombed a blaze at the Youngsfield Military Base of Wetton, alongside eight fire engines. 

One of the Christmas Day fires was sparked at a derelict building in Woodstock. When the Fire and Rescue Service arrived the flames had already spread to a neighbouring recycling business, with cardboard and paper stacked 4m high.

Containing a blaze

Vegetation in the Cape Point Nature Reserve on 26 December 2023, after a fire tore through the area. (Photo: Stephen Lamb)

Cape Point Nature Reserve on 26 December 2023, after a fire swept through the area. (Photo: Stephen Lamb)

Providing an update about the fires on Tuesday morning, mayoral committee member for Safety and Security JP Smith told Newzroom Afrika that the primary fire in Simon’s Town and within  the Table Mountain National Park “had been subdued”, with some flareups,  and firefighters had been battling fires in other parts of the city.  He said the strong winds over the past week had been aggravating conditions in what was the traditional fire season in the city, with up to 100 plus fires reported per day.

Plants and vegetation in Cape Point Nature Reserve on 26 December 2023, after the fire has been subdued. (Photo: Stephen Lamb)

‘Not uncommon’ 

Smith said later that Monday’s fire in dense vegetation at the military base – on the M5 between Ottery and Kenilworth – is yet to be established.  “It is not uncommon for burning embers to lift up and carry several kilometres before being deposited elsewhere, causing additional ignition points downwind,” he added.

Read more in Daily Maverick: What is making Deep South fire so severe and why are more deadly fires likely to occur?

Read more in Daily Maverick: Our Burning Planet

The South African Weather Service has issued a yellow Level 3 warning for strong winds across the Western Cape. Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Sonica Lategan said that “City services and relevant external agencies were on standby to deal with potential impacts” following the warning.

Beachgoers hang out at the water’s edge as Choppers collect water in Bambi buckets for bombing in Glencairn, Friday 23 December, 2023. (Photo: Stephen Lamb)

Smoky skies above Noordhoek, Friday, 23 December, 2023. (Photo: Stephen Lamb)

The following cautionaries were issued for Baden Powell Drive on Boxing Day: 

• Coastal southeasterly winds will increase from midday;
• Sand shifting quickly in the Monwabisi Beach Road turning lane;
• Combination of low and high winds; and
• The road could remain closed for the remainder of Tuesday between Strandfontein Road and Capricorn Circle.

Strong winds create a high danger of fires, which should be reported immediately on 021 480 7700 or 021 590 1990. 

To help fire victims, contact Gift of the Givers. DM Reporting by Samane Jnr Marks, Tapiwanashe Zaranyika and other Daily Maverick staff.