There is news of
raging fire in Cape Town’s South Peninsula for a fourth day with firefighters
trying to contain the blaze on Chapman’s Peak, Noordhoek and in Tokai forest,
near some of South Africa’s oldest wine farms. Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South
Africa, after Johannesburg, and the
provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is
also the legislative capital of the country. The city is famous for its harbour, for its
natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, as well as for such well-known
landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. The city was named the World Design
Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial
Design. In 2014, Cape Town was named the
best place in the world to visit by both The New York Times and The Telegraph. Cape Town was first developed by the Dutch
East India Company as a supply station
for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India, and the Far East.
With more than 100 South African firefighters are
battling wildfires on the mountains around Cape Town, people of the Cape have
been evacuated to safety. Thousands of
hectares of vegetation have been reduced to ashes on Chapman's Peak, while
several homes and a holiday lodge have been destroyed. More than 50 people -
residents of a retirement home - have been treated for smoke inhalation,
officials say. The fire started on Sunday and was fanned by strong winds,
causing it to spread rapidly. Dense, dark smoke can still be seen rising from
the mountain. Roads in the area have been closed because of poor visibility.
BBC reports that 4 helicopters are on
the scene, water-bombing the area. Such fires are common in the area from November to May, when weather
conditions are hot and windy, but it has been hotter than usual in recent
weeks. According to BBC, this is the worst wildfire in the region for many
years.
Down under, the
fiery Dale Steyn, the fast bowler playing for South Africa, praised
firefighters who saved his Cape Town mountain home from the devastating flames
which have engulfed one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.
An estimated 3,000
hectares of land have been destroyed, according to local media, with
helicopters dropping water bombs on to the flames as exhausted fire crew
struggled to extinguish the huge blaze, which has been exacerbated by
temperatures of over 40 degrees. Steyn, in New Zealand and Australia for the
World Cup, said he received several calls warning that homes in Stonehurst
would have to be evacuated. "It wasn't easy. I was in Canberra and I left
my phone on silent that night," said Steyn. "I had like 80 messages or something and
30 missed calls. So I quickly jumped on it and realized the fires were a lot
closer to my home than initially thought. "The scariest part came about
3:30 in the morning in Cape Town. I don't know what time it was in Canberra.
But the people looking after my house called me and said, listen, you've got
five minutes, we're evacuating." Steyn said he was asked by the
authorities what he wanted saved in his house.
"'What do you
want us to take out of your house?' I've never been more scared in my
life," said Steyn. "I am sitting halfway across the world, and
everything that I've ever earned or gotten in my life, every wicket, every
ball, every bit of clothing in my 31 years is in that house. Steyn praised the firefighters for a
remarkable rescue. "Yeah, just tremendous job by all those firefighters
and the volunteers that put their lives at risk and never met me before, never
met most of the people. "They were just kind of like throwing themselves
at it and putting out those fires." Steyn said former team-mate Jacques
Kallis's house was also hit by fire. "Jacques' house, his lawn was on
fire. If I was at home I'd dive straight into it and do what I can to help. It
really is terrible. "A lot of animals, pets, homes, nobody should go
through that kind of stuff. It's a pretty tough time back home right now."
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
6th Mar 2015.
