Cape Town fire is too much to comprehend!
I would KILL for a proper camera right now! These pictures, of the fire in Cape Town, just don’t capture what it looks like, the entire mountain is bright red! These are taken with a Sony Ericsson K810i mobile from several kilometers away, so that gives you an idea of just how hectic it is!
The fire engines are pouring out of the fire station on Roe land Street, the sirens are going crazy, my flat smells of smoke and I can’t open the windows, because bits and pieces of ash are flying too quickly through the air!
You know, most of us grow up in such a way that when we see a fire on a mountain, we don’t really think too much into it, but I can promise you that as I look at the mountain this time, I can feel a sense of fear and adrenaline running through me, this feels too close to home :|
Justin got these from Claremont side..
More pics..
Hard to see, but the fire is right down on the houses now, this is shot from my room, Table Mountain is on the right.
It’s stretching the whole way from the one side of Table Mountain, all the way across and looks like it’s going around towards Observatory direction, in terms of direction. The wind is still pumping, I’m not sure how this is going to be controlled!
My prays go out to all the brave firemen and all of those evacuating their homes – I pray that you will be safe and that God’s hands will cover you.
The aftermath..
There is still a lot of smoke on the mountain, and due to the daylight, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a threat – I think, provided the wind remains calm, that everything should be ok, let’s hope so at least!
Help the SPCA..
Wildlife is the main casualty of the fires on Table Mountain – and the SPCA has had its hands full with urgent rescue and relief missions. Although numerous wild animals have been rescued, more casualties are expected while the fire still burns – and in its aftermath – and SPCA Inspectors remain on full alert. To date, no domestic animals appear to have been affected, but the SPCA urges pet owners to keep a close eye on their dogs and cats.
To report injured animals – or for more information about the SPCA’s rescue efforts – please call 021 700 4158/9 or contact the SPCA after hours emergency number: 083 326 1604.
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Christopher is the founder of iMod - Most of his time is spent building websites and pushing the limits with Search Engine Optimization. You can follow him on Twitter @ChristopherM
Chris M has written: 4145 posts.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 12:46 am
WOW…i remember my mum telling me about it on Sunday…is that still the same one?
Must me scary as hell out there! that’s just above de waal drive right?
Mar 18th, 2009 at 12:49 am
Ye, just above De Waal and above Hospital Bend, I honestly wish I had a decent camera, because from here it’s insane. The entire mountain is glowing red bro, the wind is pumping, can see it literally moving as I watch :(
Mar 18th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Wow. I had no idea it was so serious until I read a tweet of someone having to evacuate their home :(
I’m not religious, but for those that are, may they find comfort in their faith.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Dude, I’m even worried. Being the other side of the mountain I can’t see exactly what’s going on and then I hear Chris Rawlinson being evacuated and it makes me very worried.
Chris is fine BTW but Vredehoek is being evacuated as we speak…
Mar 18th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Where did the fire start and which way around the mountain is it moving… Newlands way or back towards Camps Bay?
so the fires been on the go for 3-4 days then! OMG, do you know how it all started!
Those fireman must be rushing the balls off!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Henk has evacuated his place and is moving to Claremont to stay with friends, Jamaal has mentioned that hundreds of people are fleeing Salt River, this is far more scary than I could have ever imagined!
I can, honestly, no longer open my windows, it’s as if someone has a fire going right outside my window, even the streets, 16 floors below are “smogged” up.
Looking at Vrede Hoek from here, I can’t see too much movement in terms of car lights and so forth, but then again, the smoke’s getting rather thick.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Those new pics you just put up are MADNESS!! I can now see what you mean by the smogg!! SIFF
There goes the beautiful mountain :(
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:26 am
I almost hope the weather is horrible, so I don’t have to wake up and look at a thrashed mountain :(
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Have a sea-facing house in Table View and it’s like a bad-dream. The glow from the mountain actually pouring through the curtains.
I hope the fire-fighters are ok tonight. Looks like they’re going to be real busy!
Tony
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:30 am
You must get such a different perspective from that side, pity you don’t have a powerful camera, would be interesting to see.
Ye, I hope they’re doing alright, really swack :(
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Hey Chris an idea! Hook us up with a live webcam feed of the fire! :)
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:33 am
I already tried bro – My flat faces Table Mountain, which is 90degrees from the location of the fire, which means the webcam has to be outside the window, the wind is just too powerful and the camera isn’t strong enough :/
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Yea Chris … am trying with the iPhone camera (bwahaha) my normal digital and even trying to get photos from a webcam and iSight on the mac. I’m just getting blurs.
I can’t ever remember a fire being so bad on Table Mountain.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:47 am
Came home to Pinelands couple hours ago and saw the fire burning next to Rhodes Memorial by UCT. It just grew larger as it moved round the mountain. Its petty much been subdued now on this side of the mountain but can still see the heavy smoke coming from the other side.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:51 am
@Gen – There’s still quite a bit of movement on our side, but it’s certainly not as bad as it was an hour ago. I can see flames right at the top of the mountain and then quite low down, closer to residential areas. Apart from that, the smoke is so thick that I can’t see too much else..
@Tony – Scary evening hey bud?
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:56 am
Ahh thats to bad…would of been awesome to see the live footage! next time maybe :)
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:59 am
Let’s pray that there won’t be a next time!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:02 am
damn – really feel bad for all the animals that get killed or injured in these fires :(
thanks for the pics
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:04 am
I am watching the fire safe from my Woodstock apartment building. Can see the flames jumping. Might try to stop motion style capture the fire to document its path. People shouldn’t be so smug when they say “Cape Town has no natural disasters.” I am sure this fire qualifies.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Insane… When did this all start? I came back online a few minutes ago to send an email when your post came through.
The thing with a fire like this is that it’s physically impossible to put out. As fast as you can move, the fire’s moving faster. Their only strategy is to keep the fire on the mountain, and make sure it doesn’t get into any residential areas. Eventually it’ll die down, but who knows when that’ll be.
All we can hope for now is that it doesn’t spread to a built-up area…
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:05 am
Ye Joel, a mate of mine Henk had to evactuate his place and was worried about where he could calm his dog down – let alone all the poor animals on the mountain. There are hundreds of dassies – the poor things!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Dassies, buck, snakes, squirrels, nesting birds – it’s terrible
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:08 am
@ashe, grab some photographs and please feel free to email them across to me so I can keep this thread going.. I totally agree with you with regards to people saying that!
@Wogan – It started about an hour and a half ago, well that’s at least when I started to smell smoke from my room and though I’d left the toaster or something on! Agreed, it’s a matter of planning very quickly and effectively cutting it off in various areas – I forget the name for it – fire break or something?
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:11 am
@Chris Backburning. The plan being to burn out an area before the main fire hits, so that it can’t spread beyond the burnt area. But in this situation, they wouldn’t have the time to do that – and any attempt to start a backburn could just escalate into another uncontrollable fire.
Eventually the mountain will run out of flammable material, so they just have to keep it out of the residential areas until that happens.
Of course, there’s the Table Mountain cablecar station … wonder what’s happening there. Fire tends to spread upwards.
~ Wogan
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Just popped in at http://www.capetownweather.co.za – seems no rain forcast for next few days and wind from 20 to 35km/hour.
eish.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:16 am
@Tony: Cooler temperatures, though, and hopefully the wind will serve to clear the smoke. CT’s bad enough thanks to motor traffic already – if that smoke collects in the city bowl, it wouldn’t be a very good idea to stick around.
~ Wogan
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Ah nice Wogan, thanks for updating me on the correct word, I was having a look around for an explanation myself :)
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Yeah. My other name is Wolfram Alpha.
I just hope things don’t get any crazier than what they already are.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:01 am
im in blouberg and can see mnt face. Its still glowing but not a huge as 20 min ago. look like the fire is going round to camps bay side and it looks low.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:04 am
Absolutely steph, it would appear that the fire sort of comes and goes, one minute I don’t see much from here, the next minute the flames are firing up again :(
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:05 am
thanks for updating, i was phoned by my duddy sayin cape is on fire, am in ottery i cant see table mountain properly, so i checked all over the net for latest pics you are the only posted the real thing, were you an environmental jounarist before?, this is cool…
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:05 am
I live just below De Waal drive…. it was insane, we were literally hosing down the fire and our boundary walls…..flames were round bout 2-5m..scary stuff. Almost were evacuated!!
Thankfully now, it has been killed, but has unfortunately moved towards vredehoek, and tamboerskloof…my thoughts are with those staying there.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:07 am
@Wayne – No problem at all! That’s great to hear, glad you can be locked in – Cape Talk Radio is talking about it a great deal, so if you’re interested in more information, tune in :)
@Sa’ad – Woaaaah! Wasn’t that incredibly scary? Yes, I can see it moving sideways towards Table Mountain :(
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Extremely worrying. Heard people in Gardens are now evacuating.
Thanks for adding my photos.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:15 am
Cigarette butt? Yeah right.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:16 am
@Short-sighted Shooter – I’m not so sure about Gardens, the fire is quite far away still.. No problem about the photos, thanks for taking them!
Definitely not a ciggie butt, that’s just not possible for this size!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:24 am
here’s a link to a mates facebook album… few pics of the mountain!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:25 am
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/photo.php?pid=2109824&id=542760881
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:27 am
Hi JJ, the link you provided does not work..
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:31 am
Thanks JJ.
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2487212,00.html
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:34 am
my bad… sorry!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:47 am
can anyone tell me if upper vredehoek is ok? had to leave a few hours ago. no radio etc.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:49 am
So sorry to hear that nik. It’s really hard to tell from here, the lower fires seem to be somewhat controlled at the moment, but the fires further up are pushing towards Table Mountain..
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:52 am
According to 702/567, houses(/buildings?) are currently OK.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:53 am
my imod icon says it all!!!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:58 am
thanks for that!!!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:05 am
Live report on 702/567. Fire (and conditions) has calmed down. Firefighters have prevented buildings from burning. Concentrating on hot spots. Ambulances treating firefighters(/people?) for burn wounds.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:11 am
4 am and i’m so hyped there is no possibility of sleep, so here’s my blog. i live below the three towners in vredehoek. I’m in bed reading a novel and in it is a long long description of a house on fire. i smell smoke and think hey this book is REALLY well written. But then i realise, it’s all around me. I call a few neighbours after looking outside and deciding to pack up some stuff to see if they think i’m panicking or if my reaction is justified. Creeping over devils peak is a long line of blood red flames. the wind is taking them higher and higher, wider and wider.
i start packing, all the while thinking i’m being alarmist. all my photo archives, master tapes of my films, family pics etc. (only last week i thought i must start scanning my prescious pics in case something happens to them!! – time to take action with that scanner)
i’m hualing heavy cases to the car with superhuman strength in a howling wind with smoke pumping into my lungs after being in bed sick for three days.
and there are NO fire trucks!!! just loads of police cars bellowing at people to get out.
it’s getting closer and closer and closer. i leave when it looks like the houses behind me are on fire. i stop at the spar to take a pic, but the burning coals are blowing onto my feet. it was chaos up there with people bumping into each others cars in a rush to exit. who were all the people trying to get in/up though???
i take some pictures with my new NIkon D90, but am shaking so much they are blurred. normally so quick to be in the heart of the action, with tears streaming down my face, i drive away, from the brave men trying to help, in shorts and t-shirts, with walkie talkies and little else.
i stop to take a picture of the tower that resembles the towering inferno poster.
i stink. im scared to see what the morning brings.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:13 am
This thread/blog was just mentioned on 702/567.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Hi guys
It was insane out there around 3 – I’m going back out to see what’s happening.
I’ve posted some pics on my blog at http://wickedmag.blogspot.com
I’ll gladly email you the batch of them if you want.
Let me know where to send them.
All the best to those who have been evacuated.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Firefighters and all involved need caffeine. Please drop off coffee and styrofoam etc. with the Roeland Street fire department.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:51 am
Styrofoam cups*
Mar 18th, 2009 at 5:12 am
He spoke to a fire man at the petrol station he said “Walmer Estate had been “made safe” but Vredehoek was still “very hot”. thsi was around 4.30am. Are you serious about taking coffe to Roeland street?
Mar 18th, 2009 at 5:15 am
Hi, I am Watsonia Street and all is fine, still smoky but ok?
My pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/queentut/
Mar 18th, 2009 at 5:15 am
Hi Guys
Some pics on my blog at http://wickedmag.blogspot.com
Will gladly send you the whole lot if you want, let me know.
Things look a lot better at the moment, wind has died down, unfortunately that means we in the bowl are beginning to smell the smoke – it’s pretty bad.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 5:31 am
That’s terrible Chris. They told us as a fire fighting course once that an average house burns down in four minutes, then it just smokes after that. I wonder how long the mountain will burn.
What does it look like this morning?
Mar 18th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Yes, Roeland Street fire dept spokesman on 702/567 asked for coffee and cuss.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 5:47 am
Heard about your site on 702- have been looking at the various pics posted – awesome! Living in Jhb and an occasional visito to CT my heart bleeds for all of you who live down there, going through this several times a year. Fortunately the mountain seems to recover quite quickly, though people probably take longer!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 6:38 am
@Tony: In the early ’90s the whole mountain burnt – from Cape Town to Cape Point – that was worse than this.
@Elaine: The mountain doesn’t burn that often. One major fire a decade roughly. Not sure yet if this even qualifies since it seems localised. There’s no sign of fire where I stay – Bergvliet / Heathfield.
It’s totally natural and normal for the mountain to burn. In fact, it’s necessary for the indigenous fauna (fynbos and Proteaceae to germinate.
People shouldn’t be alarmed by this – it’s a natural cycle of Table Mountain.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 7:18 am
there are natural cycles of fire that help the natural fynbos and then the man made cycle of fire that destroy it!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Oh my goodness!!
How tragic.. I will be praying for the safety of all and that the inferno calms down soon…
Mar 18th, 2009 at 8:41 am
My thoughts and prayers are with you guys!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Wow, those photos are hectic!!
Hope it stops burning soon
Mar 18th, 2009 at 8:55 am
The mountain burning isn’t so much a problem as is the danger it poses to houses and people (who probably shouldn’t be that high up on the mountain anyway!)
In any event, let’s hope our tired firemen can successfully battle this blaze as they did the ones in my backyard!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Wow Chriss – looks like you were doing some serious journalistic work last night with your camera! Great pics!!
I saw the helicopters this morning bringing water to the fires, amazing these firemen!
Lucky they have it under control!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Looks like I left Cape Town just in time!
Good luck guys, I hope you get it out quickly and all make it out alive.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Can someone please tell me if tamboerskloof (kloofstreet) was evacuated as well? I have a friend that lives there and can’t get hold of him now.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Hey,
I live just off Kloof st. in Tamboerskloof and no we were not evacuated!
It was not that close to us (was on the other side of town) – even tho it was not far away at all!
Hope that gives you peace of mind!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Would you believe that both me and my camera slept thru this..ggrrrr!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:35 am
We’d gone to bed early, just after the fire apparently started. Just after 1 am I woke up smelling it in our upstairs bedroom, with the smoke filling our Vredehoek house. I was hearing voices outside, Police loudspeakers intoning “get out of your houses” over and over. the sound of cars. at first we thought it was far away. we couldnt see. minutes passed, laundry was taken in because the ash was blown in by a strong wind. When I saw the flames behind the Spar I started hyperventilating because I thought any minute it’s going to come down and get our house…got everyone out…including the friend who decided it was a good time to start ironing work clothes ;-0 We decided to drive towards Higgovale etc, where looking back it looked like some sort of volcano had erupted above our home. I had to make my boyfriend drive back to get our 90+ neighbour who had refused to leave his house. we went back and he still refused. we then drove up close to the mountain. a friend’s house has the mountain as its backyard. once there, we started helping with dousing it in pool water. as much as possible, the waterhose was turned on to any surrounding bush. the best thing was the Kreepy hose, which we just let loose on the garden. removed gas cylinders. once the sparks started flying, we left the house, and the firemen took over. they were there so quickly. after it seemed like they had contained it, we left the house near the Towers and went back down to our own. tried to sleep. no luck. phone calls came in as people started watching the news. yep, same house we had just come from was being shown. i can still here the helicopters a whole 6 hourse later. phew…
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:36 am
My heart goes out to all those who are effected by the blaze. I can’t even imagine. Thanks for the pics Chris… quite the photographer since you were only using your phone
Mar 18th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Thanks!! was a bit worried :)
Mar 18th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Yowsers just woke up on the other side of the world to see that my neighbourhood (vredehoek) was being evacuated last night! Called my house sitter but thankfully he just laughed at me *huge sigh of relief* Crazy pics to see first thing when you one continent away and you can see the flames licking behind your house!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I know its lank destructive and very bad, but wow it looks amazing!!!!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Seeing the mountain and fire from Genee’s place last night around 4am was pretty hectic.
Very close.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Hi Chris
I heard you on Cape Talk last night and as one of the people who had to evacuate was keen to see these pics. Really cool site and thanks for the updates.
Richard
Mar 18th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
hey chris – wow what a night!
we live right up against the mountain on the far left of the three towers. the fire raged right up to our back fence, flames licking our trees, burning coals flying everywhere, but thankfully, the fire did not spread to our house. had to evacuate my mom (lung disease therefore oxygen machines etc.) and all animals and just try and take what we could. couldnt believe how consuming the fire was. the heat was so overwhelming. no air.
my boet and my boyfriend stayed on, hosing down the back fence to try and prevent the fire from jumping over – luckily that worked.
really found the guys on loudspeakers to be rather rude and unprofessional. i know its their job to alert, evacuate and ensure safety – but they were just freaking everyone out – there were screams – people running out into the streets while cars zoomed out of driveways – there was no order or false sense of calm – people were left disorientated, not knowing where to go – wondering the streets – and a lot of them eventually found solace from each other. a couple of us met up in Long st. for coffee while we waited. friends from high cape and st james road. amazing how people unite. lovely to see, just sad conditions. overall, think the firemen need to be HUGELY congratulated. awarded. it was an intense and scary night. thank God the wind died down.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Hi, I also watched the fire last night from my balcony in tamboerskloof. What a Fire. As I live here only for 1 year now I wasn’t used to such a big fire.
Thank God that the fire is now under control. Hopefully it stays save.
Have some more pics at my website.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
You know i truly applaud you for those amazing photograpghs you took – this morning at 3am + – not knowing whats going on your photos lend comfort to the mind. I heard your talk on Cape Talk and passed it immediately to our chatters locally and overseas who were worried on our chat group.. Just a comment .. No you definately do not need a better camera !! your photos were truly amazing. Well done !!
Mar 18th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
It makes me sad that this happens every year to our beautiful mountain. My family was one of many who had to leave their homes. Thanks to all for posting updates. I’m all the way in the middle east.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
i took pictures right thru the night from when it started till this morning 6 o clock.
Took it from the bo kaap signal hill.
Toook over 250 pictures as the fire was burning over the whole devilspeak to deerpark.
Now very tired and making a slideshow of 200 photos.
Mar 18th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
More photos here, plus eyewitness account:
http://www.capetown.travel/blog/entry/fires_on_table_mountain/
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I just can’t believe how many comments there are, wow! I started this post simply as a bit of an awareness guide and it’s exploded into such a fantastic information base, so thank you to everyone who’s popped in and left a comment.
On my way home, I noticed that there are still quite a few flames up on the mountain and the wind is fairly strong CBD side, so I really hope those poor firemen have managed to secure a good perimeter!
Mar 19th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Thanks for the pics and the links guys. I was watching from Claremont at around 2am; the orange line on the edge of the mountain.
Though this afternoon I went up to Rhodes Memorial from UCT with a mate of mine to go check the damage. On the way up, fire flared up right in front of us and we stayed back just enough to avoid being hit with a helicopter’s load of water. Firefighters were there immediately though and put it out very quickly.
The restaurant up there was open while logs smouldered about 5m down the hill. Totally surreal way to have a milkshake.
Spoke to a firefighter there who said that there were going to be firefighters on duty all night to check for hotspots. They were taking steps to avoid spreading of fires this evening. But they were a little worried about the top of devils peak (which is currently covered with cloud, so hopefully not too bad up there?)
Also, I think the last time I remember Table Mountain (specifically) being on fire like this was in early 2000 or late 1999. But that fire went all the way down the peninsula. For fynbos, there needs to be a major ‘burnout’ every 7 years as far as I remember. (I stand to be corrected)
Just drove past the Rondebosch Common on the way home this evening and looking up at the mountain was like looking over a small city. Little dots of orange everywhere.
Don’t know what the town side looks like.
Hope everyone’s alright.
Mar 19th, 2009 at 12:10 am
I saw the Southern Suburbs side a few hours ago and there was a fair amount of action at the top of hospital bend, but they seemed to be in control.
In terms of town side, there are small “hot spots” towards the right of the Tampon Towers, then a bigger one to the left, and another quite a lot further away, to the left, of the Towers. As far as the top goes, it’s really difficult to see anything, I suspect that there is a little, but nothing too serious.
The wind is really pumping again this side, so I’m praying that it won’t trigger something again!
Mar 19th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Spent two weeks holiday at cape town, cannot believe the intensity of it all. What about all the wild life? And a huge thankyou to all the fire fighters.
Mar 19th, 2009 at 1:09 am
I discovered your blog/website by chance and I must CONGRATULATE and THANK YOU AND EVERYBODY for all the “alive” information you gave me through your “talkings”.
I’ve spoken to my daughterTONIGHT who studies in UCT and she also hopes the wind calms down tonight. They were VERY worried cause MCB Department and allover that side they have lots of gas and quite dangerous chemicals. She sent me 2 photos of the fires on that side. Where can I send them to you? Hope everybody be fine and sleeping peacefully. Please accept all my solidarity from Maputo/Mozambique!
Mar 19th, 2009 at 1:14 am
I went up to Rhodes Memorial today, where the emergency crews were, and got a number of close ups of the action. I also managed to get some panoramas of the fire last night and this morning from my roof.
From today: http://tinyurl.com/cptfire
The original post: http://tinyurl.com/dhqj5a
Cheers, Shaun.
Apr 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
There’s a large circular patch just above De Waal Drive that never burnt – someone put a huge smiley face on it :-), I saw it this morning, but the Table Mountain Law Enforcement removed it by lunch time. Any one get any pics?
Apr 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Oh wow!
Sorry I am a joburger so can only see the pics… I feel for you capetonians. Soz that you having this fire and I hope no one loses anything.
In joburg we don’t have fires except the occasional taxi or bus cathing alight.
Actually in joburg we don’t have much except the smog – that comes standard.
Hope all is cool
Apr 18th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Ye mate, I promise you, it was actually damn scary. We’ve had fires here before and all, but this one was just too close to home :/
I think all in all, it’s a good thing, as fynbos does require regrowth after x number of years. I think someone above actually explained it..
All is good now, thanks for asking bro!
Aug 24th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
sho, the info and the pics look soooo…. HECTIC! Woah.. sorry i’m doing a project on this subject and the info helped so much..but wow..even though its a couple months later, it all looks so scarey and devastating..pity that the mountain still looks bad but hopefully by summer it’ll be like it was.
Aug 24th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Based on the severity of the fires, I think the mountain actually did quite well to be honest. I’m pretty sure with all this rain, that the next gap of sunlight will be soaked up quickly and the fynbos will burst through again :)
Good luck with your project!