Fire on Paarl Rock contained, say district municipality

Firefighters have successfully contained the fire on Paarl Mountain, the Cape Winelands Municipality has announced. The crew reported only a few flare-ups, with firefighting teams managing to contain all active fire lines.

The municipality deployed firefighters, helicopters, and fire vehicles to combat the blaze, which started on Wednesday afternoon, affecting both sides of the Jan Phillips Mountain Road along the slopes of Paarl Mountain. Initially, two helicopters and seven fire vehicles were used to contain the fire.

Municipality spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto stated that there are currently eight vehicles and crew from the Cape Winelands and three vehicles and crew from Drakenstein Municipality’s Fire Services on the scene. Ground crews will continue damping down, mopping up, and monitoring throughout the night.

While there are no active flames on the fire line above the road, the municipality highlighted that the fire line running below the road still requires active firefighting efforts due to a high fuel load provided by alien vegetation.

The municipality urged motorists to avoid driving in the area to prevent hampering firefighting efforts. This fire comes after several other parts of the municipality, including the Du Toitskloof Pass and Wolseley, battled fires in recent months. In Wolseley, it took 158 firefighters, at least 10 ground crews, and 18 firefighting vehicles two weeks to extinguish a fire that ripped through more than 24,000 hectares.

The Western Cape government has increased its firefighting budget to R19 million to address such incidents.

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