By Robert Brand
(Bloomberg) — Fires that ravaged Cape Town’s southern peninsula for four days were under control on Thursday after damaging homes and vineyards and destroying swathes of indigenous vegetation, officials in the South African city said.
“Was a good night, no flare-ups,” Helen Zille, premier of the Western Cape province, said on her Twitter account on Thursday after the city’s official Twitter account reported late Wednesday that the fires were mostly under control. Three homes were destroyed and 10 other properties, including a luxury hotel, were damaged by the blaze, which started in the mountains above Muizenberg on March 1 and spread to other areas including Noordhoek, Lakeside, Hout Bay and Tokai.
About 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of fynbos, indigenous shrubs, and other vegetation have been reduced to ash, the worst such disaster since at least 2000 in South Africa’s second- largest city and biggest tourist attraction. While no one has died, one fire fighter sustained burns and 52 people from an old-age home had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Fire fighters were still battling small conflagrations in Lakeside and Kalk Bay late Wednesday, the city said. Most roads that were closed had been re-opened, though the scenic Chapman’s Peak Drive remained barred, it said.
