Aerial bombing took place near Buitenverwachting this morning.
Image: Geoff Budge
Firefighters battling the South Peninsula blaze have been offered some relief as a light rain has started falling on parts of the affected area.
Helicopters that had been water bombing the flames earlier this morning have been grounded due to poor visibility.
Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City’s Fire and Rescue Service, said the Incident Management Team (IMT) will be assessing the situation and deciding on the way forward in the next hour.
Crews from the City’s Fire and Rescue Service, TMNP, NCC and VWS remain on scene; however, it is likely that resources will be scaled back once the IMT has completed its assessment, he said.
Mr Carelse had said earlier that there was some concern that the two fire lines were creeping towards Chapman’s Peak.
This morning marks the fourth consecutive day that fire crews have been battling to contain the blaze.
Yesterday the City activated an Incident Management Team Type 3, to work on a 12-hour rotation, providing greater oversight in managing the incident, Mr Carelse said.
He urged the public to steer clear of the parts of the South Peninsula that have been affected by this fire – for their own safety, but also to give firefighters space to do their jobs.
South African National Parks (SANParks) said a flare-up started above Boyes Drive last night, and was slowly burning down towards the road above Lakeside.
They said another flare-up had occurred in Chapman's Peak around the early hours of the morning and was burning towards Hout Bay.
SANParks said about 3000 hectares of vegetation has been burnt.
Some roads remain closed as a result of the fire in the South Peninsula.
These include:
Please avoid non-essential travel in these areas, as surrounding routes will likely be impacted by the traffic being diverted away from the closed routes.