As per News24, the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service received an emergency call shortly after 10am reporting vegetation burning near the private hospital and Paardevlei precinct off Beach Road, according to Jermaine Carelse, the service’s spokesperson.
Multiple firefighting crews from various local stations, totalling about 30 firefighters, responded to the scene. Aerial support was requested around 11am and the fire area was water-bombed for an hour.
By the afternoon, the fire was contained, but crews remained on-site as significant work was needed to fully extinguish the flames.
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Carelse noted that claims suggesting vagrants started the fire could not be verified.
The Helderberg Marine Protected Area is home to diverse flora and fauna, hosting many insects that birds and animals feed on.
Lisa Starr, founder of the Helderberg Ocean Awareness Movement, spoke on the life within the flora that has been destroyed.
‘We have seen the presence of two Aurora house snakes, Cape clawless otters and caracal to name a few. Hopefully they had time to move away. The birds will have flown away, but if there were any fledglings they will have perished.’
‘We are grateful to all the emergency services involved, especially the Winelands Fire Protection Services that dispatched the Quick Reaction Force helicopters.’
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