Monday, 2nd March

I will not be going through to see Jimmy today (due to road closures) so I thought I would update you all on the huge fire.

You will have noticed that I posted some pictures of the fire on the mountain which were taken around the time that I came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and sunset.

Over night the wind picked up to gale force conditions and pushed the fire over the mountain to the whole stretch right behind our house.  I woke up some time before 5 am coughing as a result of all the smoke in our house.  Loren was sleeping with me and I shook her awake to tell her I can smell smoke.  With that our neighbour phoned me to find out if I was awake.  I told him I had just woken up and he calmly explained that the fire had come over the ridge and we need to pack important personal belongs and be ready for an evacuation.

I got dressed and I packed laptop and external hard drives and any paperwork I could think of including passports, birth certificates and my jewellery box.  I yelled to Loren to get dressed and pack some stuff.  Funny how teenagers are...she came down with 2 bags full of clothes and when I asked her if there isn't any important stuff she needs to pack she politely told me clothes are expensive.  We moved the cars out of the top drive way down to the other side of the house and Jimmy's father started hosing down the property.  In hindsight there are so many things that we do not think about or don't think are important.  While Jimmy has been in hospital I had the irrigation system repaired and a new computer installed.  It would have been useful to know how to set it to manual so that the water sprayers could have been left on to soak the ground.

We had fire engines and emergency vehicles and personnel up and down our street.  There is one row of houses between us and the mountain and it was extremely close.  Our road is 'upside down horse shoe shaped' and we live on the left hand side going down the hill.  The houses on the straight section on the boundary of the mountain side had all been up since 1am.  Everyone's cars were packed with engines idling waiting to leave.

The wind kept dying down (for very short periods of time) and then picking up again and each time it would change direction.  At one stage it was blowing from right to left passed the back of our property and the next it changed direction and was blowing directly off the mountain in a direction of directly down our street.  Clive and Maureen had been trying to phone me but I didn't realise that I had no cell phone reception.  I can only think it was due to all the smoke hanging in the air?  Loren I and were standing outside on the pavement when Clive pulled up to come and check on us to see if we needed any help.  On this note I would like to say thank you to everyone that tried to phone and left messages and all the text messages I received...Andrew, Patsy, Matthew, Kate, Kathi, Rohan, Sharon, Colleen...forgive me if I left someone out.  I even had a message posted on facebook and my name was tagged asking if we are okay...thank you Donne.

The fire started yesterday on the other side of the mountain and this morning the fire fighters were exhausted.  The geography of the situation is very difficult to explain here for anyone that doesn't live in the Valley or Cape Town.  Within a kilometre of our house are 2 old age homes and the stories we are hearing are all different but the frail care patients were all evacuated at 4am already, some taken to hospital and others accommodated in a church hall further down in our suburb.

This picture is not too clear but in the middle, under the green belt you will see Crofter's Valley.  We are in San Michel which is just above this and hidden by the red icons.  The fire started on the other side of the mountain (indicated by the green belt) in the Westlake and Muizenberg area.

A summary from the Volunteer Wildlife Services:

 - 300+ firefighters
- 30 vehicles
- 4 helicopters
- 2 water bombers
- 1 spotter
- Area affected 3000+ hectares
- Homes have been evacuated - mass care set up at Fish Hoek Community - 5 homes burned to the ground

As I am typing I can hear the helicopters are back again....

The following are photos, some of which are mine and some I have uploaded from the Volunteer Wildlife Services:

These 2 photos are taken from the other side of the mountain, Westlake and Muizenberg, where the fire started and heavy winds blew it over the mountain towards us.

The next photo is taken from our side of the mountain at The Lakes.  Our street is just under the line of fire just to the right hand side of the centre of the photo.

I took the next batch of photos in the street outside our house.

Here are some aerial photos taken of the area at lunch time today.

 

 

Here is a link to Cape Town Fire - time lapse 19:39 to 21:32 (this is a speeded up version)





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN9pXs17GKY&feature=player_detailpage

City of Cape Town Media Release a few hours ago:

MEDIA RELEASE
2 MARCH 2015

The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service is leading a multi-agency team in trying to contain a fire in the South Peninsula.

The fire started just after 02:00 on Sunday 1 March in Muizenberg above Boyes Drive and was fanned by the strong wind. It is now burning over an extensive area, including Ou Kaapse Weg and Chapman’s Peak, heading in the direction of Hout Bay.

As at 12:00 today, five homes were destroyed along Silvermine Road in Noordhoek and numerous bungalows were alight at the Tintswalo Lodge at the foot of Chapman’s Peak.

One member of the City’s Fire and Rescue Service sustained burn wounds and was transported to hospital, while at least 52 residents at the Noordhoek Manor Retirement Village were treated for smoke inhalation.

At least 10 private homes, an old-age home and a retirement village have been evacuated in Noordhoek. Three mass care centres have been set up to accommodate those who have been displaced: at the Dutch Reformed Church in Kommetjie Road, Fish Hoek; the Dutch Reformed campsite in Noordhoek; and the Fish Hoek Community Hall.

Resources on scene currently include 97 City firefighters, 28 firefighting vehicles, 18 support vehicles, four helicopters, two fixed-wing aircraft from Working on Fire, a spotter plane, and 50 Working on Fire ground crew. Agencies involved in the firefighting effort include the City’s Fire and Rescue Service, Disaster Risk Management staff and volunteers, Table Mountain National Park, Working On Fire volunteers, Wild Land Fire Services and Wild Fire Services.

Members of the public are advised to hose down thatched roofs, keep all windows closed and to call the City of Cape Town’s 107 Public Emergency Call Centre in the event of an emergency. They can dial 107 from a landline or 021 480 7700 from a cellphone.

Chapman’s Peak Drive remains closed, while Boyes Drive is partially closed between Old Boyes Drive and the golf course. Ou Kaapse Weg also remains closed due to poor visibility.

‘The focus of the firefighting efforts right now is on the protection of properties on the urban fringe and the firefighters on the ground are working all out. Fortunately, the wind has subsided somewhat, so that is a welcome relief. At this stage we have not established the cause of the fire, but that is a secondary concern. Right now the priority is protecting lives and property,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Members of the public who would like to make donations can drop them off at the Fish Hoek and Lakeside fire stations as well as the Dutch Reformed Church in Kommetjie Road, Fish Hoek; the Noordhoek Farm Stall; and the Dutch Reformed campsite in Noordhoek. Cash donations can be made to the Volunteer Wildfire Services.

End

Issued by: Integrated Strategic Communication, Branding and Marketing Department, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, City of Cape Town, Tel: 021 400 1311 or Cell: 083 675 3780, E-mail: jean-pierre.smith@capetown.gov.za (please always copy media.account@capetown.gov.za)

Some photos by ELSA HOFFMANN of the fire fighters working on the blaze above Boyes Drive in the early hours of this morning:

 

 

 

Another aerial photo

 

 

 

Well I think this is enough reporting for one day.  I will see Jimmy again in the morning and look forward to the possibility of an idea of when he will be discharged.