Coordinated efforts on Saturday night quelled a wind-fuelled blaze in Dido Valley, Simon’s Town, which had been hit by a four-day water outage. (Photo: Cape Winelands District Municipality / Facebook) 
“It’s an absolute miracle that there has been no loss of life or damage to properties,” said Rosemary Ashley, a resident of Welcome Glen, a little suburb which straddles Dido Valley and De Gama Park, a Navy property in Simon’s Town through which a wildfire tore on Saturday, 22 November.
“The howling southeaster fuelled a raging out-of-control blaze through Da Gama Park’s overgrown alien vegetation. With no water for four days, taps were dry, but more devastating was that there was no water in the fire hydrants,” said Ashley.
Fuelled by southeasterly
The fire broke out in the evening, with residents reporting smelling smoke well before they saw flames at around 5pm. Fuelled by strong southeasterly winds, the blaze soon jumped Gleneagle Road and burned down the mountainside towards the houses that line the property where the fire started.
The fire came dangerously close to houses in Welcome Glen, and some Da Gama Park residents were evacuated, but thanks to swift and coordinated efforts between the SA Navy Fire, NCC Wildfires and Volunteer Wildfire Services, the blaze was brought under control.
“Once again, it has been proven that collaboration between various agencies and strategic placement of resources gets the job done,” said City of Cape Town spokesperson Jermaine Carelse.
“If it wasn’t for the firefighters, I probably wouldn’t be on this call today, standing in my house,” said Welcome Glen resident Gudrun Scott-Cleghorn.
Water outage
The firefighting efforts were severely hampered by a water outage that left residents with no municipal water since Thursday, 20 November.
This, said Scott-Cleghorn, could have had dire consequences.
“We couldn’t wet down [dampening something with water to prevent it catching alight]. If we had water, we could have at least wet down our properties, and that can be the difference between saving your home and losing it.”
Their only recourse was relying on a neighbour’s borehole to keep key areas dampened. The lack of functioning fire hydrants, compounded by low water pressure, created a dangerous situation for residents and first responders alike.
Another resident, who asked not to be named, said the fire came dangerously close to their property line and they used the water in their JoJo tank to put out small fires in their backyard.
“Without this JoJo tank, I am certain our house would have burnt down. Our tanks are now depleted, and fires are still flaring up around us.”
Ashley described scenes of residents running around using spades to throw sand on flames, many evacuating with their children and pets, while firefighters and volunteers battled what she described as an impossible situation.
“We were showered by clouds of flying embers, and all the while, neighbours helping each other. It was a terrifying and near-tragic night of hell, until 5am this morning, with a few flare-ups since then. We are shattered,” said Ashley.
/file/attachments/2984/588787243_825222253595625_4264776182947942056_n_452968_284858d6616fec9d1542f9b1081b45a8.jpg "Despite water challenges, firefighters worked through the night to contain the Dido Valley Blaze. (Photo: Montagu Volunteer Fire & Rescue / Facebook)")
Carelse said the blaze was brought under control at 5am on Sunday, with only a few hot spots remaining in the vicinity of Gleneagle Road.
A firefighter was injured but did not require medical attention.
Residents said there was an element of environmental neglect that helped to fuel the blaze. The fire ignited dry and overgrown invasive alien vegetation that blankets the fire line.
“The area is absolutely overrun with alien vegetation, which burns fast and hot, and nobody takes responsibility for removing it. Navy points fingers at the city, the city points at Public Works, and the problem remains,” said Cleghorn.
Empty promises
The water issues in Welcome Glen are not new; for years, residents have endured persistent water interruptions linked to outdated water infrastructure on Navy land, which is maintained by the Department of Public Works.
Ashley said residents had endured constant water outages lasting days at a time and constantly engaged with councillors on the issue.
Residents have attended numerous meetings and communicated with officials via WhatsApp groups, but typically receive excuses and empty promises instead of effective solutions.
This situation illustrates a broader infrastructure challenge affecting water supply in Da Gama Park, where ageing pipelines require urgent maintenance and repair. Although the issue has been escalated repeatedly, particularly concerning burst pipes along key supply lines, lasting solutions remain elusive, leaving communities vulnerable to risks such as uncontrolled fires with limited firefighting water resources.
“The mayor, water director and those in charge of fire safety need to sit down with Welcome Glen residents and explain how they plan to prevent this in future. We need to see our water issues tabled on the city budget as an urgent matter. We are in a fire risk area, and it’s too dangerous to be without water.
“Last night as the fires flared and embers flew over our rooftops, I thought to myself that the City of Cape Town doesn’t really care if Welcome Glen Residents live or die,” said a resident, who asked not to be named.
Daily Maverick asked the City of Cape Town for comment on the water crisis, but had not received it by the agreed deadline. The article will be updated once comment is received. DM“It's an absolute miracle that there has been no loss of life or damage to properties”, Rosemary Ashley told Daily Maverick, a resident of Welcome Glen, a little suburb which straddles Dido Valley and De Gama Park, a Navy property in Simon’s Town that was ravaged by a wildfire on Saturday, 22 November.
The reason behind Ashley’s surprise that the blaze did not cause any destruction to property or loss of life is the fact that although regions in the Western Cape have moved into fire season, the area did not have water for four days.
“The howling south easter fuelled a raging out-of-control blaze through Da Gama Parks' overgrown alien vegetation. With no water for four days, taps were dry, but more devastating was that there was no water in the fire hydrants,” Ashley said.
Firefighters contain Dido Valley blaze
The fire broke out in the evening, with residents reporting smelling smoke well before they saw flames at around 5 pm. Fueled by strong southeasterly winds, the blaze soon jumped Gleneagle Road and burned down the mountainside towards the houses that line the Navy-owned property where the fire started.
The fire burned dangerously close to Welcome Glen houses, and some Da Gama Park residents were precautionarily evacuated, but thanks to swift and coordinated efforts between the SA Navy Fire, NCC Wildfires, and Volunteer Wildfire Services, the blaze was brought under control with no loss of life or damage to property.
“Once again, it has been proven that collaboration between various agencies and strategic placement of resources gets the job done,” said City of Cape Town spokesperson Jermaine Carelse.
“If it wasn't for the firefighters, I probably wouldn't be on this call today, standing in my house,” Gudrun Scott-Cleghorn, another Welcome Glen resident, told Daily Maverick.
Water shortages complicated firefighting efforts
Yet, the firefighting efforts were severely hampered by a water outage that left residents with no municipal water since Thursday, 20 November.
This, according to Cleghorn, could have had potentially dire consequences.
"We couldn’t wet down(a process of dampening something with water to keep it from catching alight). If we had water, we could have at least wet down our properties, and that can be the difference between saving your home and losing it."
Their only recourse was relying on a neighbour’s borehole to keep key areas dampened. The lack of functioning fire hydrants, compounded by low water pressure, created a dangerous situation for residents and first responders alike.
Another resident, who asked not to be named, told Daily Maverick that the fire came dangerously close to their property line and used their Jojo tank to put out fires that sparked in their backyard.
“Without this Jojo tank, I am certain our house would have burned down. Our tanks are now depleted, and fires are still flaring up around us,” They said.
Ashley described scenes of residents running around using spades to throw sand on flames, many evacuating with their children and pets, all the while firefighters and volunteers battled what she described as an impossible situation, along with the community.
“We were showered by clouds of flying embers, and all the while, neighbours helping each other. It was a terrifying and near-tragic night of hell, until 5 am this morning, with a few flare-ups since then. We are shattered,” Ashley said.
According to Carelse, the blaze was brought under control at 5 am on Sunday, with only a few hot spots in the vicinity of Gleneagle Road.
While no property was damaged or lives lost, a firefighter was injured but did not require medical attention.
The incident has been scaled down, and only a few resources remain on scene
The residents told Daily Maverick that beyond the water issue, there was an element of environmental neglect that further fuelled the blaze. The fire ignited dangerously dry and overgrown invasive alien vegetation that blankets the fire line.
"The area is absolutely overrun with alien vegetation, which burns fast and hot, and nobody takes responsibility for removing it. Navy points fingers at the City, the City points at Public Works, and the problem remains," Cleghorn said.
Years of water interruptions
The water issues faced by Welcome Glen are not new; it seems residents have endured persistent water interruptions linked to outdated water infrastructure on Navy land, maintained by the Public Works Department.
Ashley told Daily Maverick that residents have felt held captive to ongoing water supply challenges for years. She said they endured constant water outages lasting days at a time and have had to continuously engage with local councillors on the issue.
Despite the residents' continuous efforts to pressure the navy into fixing the burst pipes, these efforts were allegedly often ignored. Residents have attended numerous meetings and communicated via WhatsApp groups, but typically receive a variety of excuses and empty promises instead of effective solutions.
This situation illustrates a broader infrastructure challenge affecting water supply in Da Gama Park, where ageing pipelines require urgent maintenance and repair. Although the issue has been escalated repeatedly, particularly concerning burst pipes along key supply lines, lasting solutions remain elusive, leaving communities vulnerable to risks such as uncontrolled fires with limited firefighting water resources.
“The mayor, water director and those in charge of fire safety need to sit down with Welcome Glen residents and explain how they plan to prevent this in future. We need to see our water issues tabled on the city budget as an urgent matter. We are in a fire risk area, and it's too dangerous to be without water. Last bright as the fires flared and embers flew over our rooftop,s I thought to myself that the City of Cape Town doesn't really care if Welcome Glen Residents live or die,” another resident, who asked not to be named, said.
Daily Maverick reached out to the City of Cape Town for comment on the Dido Valley water crisis, but received no comment by the agreed upon deadline, the article will be updated once comment is received. DM