Fire services were 'well-structured'
30 July 2009, 08:54
By Lyndon Khan
Table Mountain National Park has commended fire services for their swift response in putting out a blaze at the Cape Point Nature Reserve on Tuesday.
The park's fire manager, Philip Prins, said the Volunteer Wildfire Services, which was commissioned by the park in 1999 and which helped extinguish the blaze, was "well-organised and well-structured".
The service sent 16 firefighters to help the fire engines from the city's fire response team.
The fire broke out on Tuesday evening near one of the overnight accommodation huts. It took the firefighters until about 10pm on Tuesday before they were able to bring it under control.
Fire units were still patrolling the area at 1pm yesterday to ensure there were no flare-ups.
The city's fire command and control centre spokesman, Charles Fezi, said they had received a call about the fire at 6.41pm on Tuesday and had sent four fire engines to deal with the fire. Upon arriving at the scene, the firefighters asked that another fire engine be sent to help them.
Prins said the extent of the damage to fynbos still needed to be determined, but he estimated that about two hectares had been destroyed by the fire.
Volunteer services operations director Robert Erasmus expressed concern about fires in the middle of winter during the wettest part of the year.
The Cape Point Nature Reserve is an integral part of the Cape floral Kingdom.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Table Mountain National Park has commended fire services for their swift response in putting out a blaze at the Cape Point Nature Reserve on Tuesday.
The park's fire manager, Philip Prins, said the Volunteer Wildfire Services, which was commissioned by the park in 1999 and which helped extinguish the blaze, was "well-organised and well-structured".
The service sent 16 firefighters to help the fire engines from the city's fire response team.
The fire broke out on Tuesday evening near one of the overnight accommodation huts. It took the firefighters until about 10pm on Tuesday before they were able to bring it under control.
Fire units were still patrolling the area at 1pm yesterday to ensure there were no flare-ups.
The city's fire command and control centre spokesman, Charles Fezi, said they had received a call about the fire at 6.41pm on Tuesday and had sent four fire engines to deal with the fire. Upon arriving at the scene, the firefighters asked that another fire engine be sent to help them.
Prins said the extent of the damage to fynbos still needed to be determined, but he estimated that about two hectares had been destroyed by the fire.
Volunteer services operations director Robert Erasmus expressed concern about fires in the middle of winter during the wettest part of the year.
The Cape Point Nature Reserve is an integral part of the Cape floral Kingdom.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
- This article was originally published on page 6 of The Cape Times on July 30, 2009
