A number of locals are concerned after spotting smoke billowing from the Newlands Forest, with some reporting it as a fire. Luckily, it seems what many suspected to be a vegetation fire is actually an illegal camping ground.
Newlands crew members are on-site this morning to tend to the illegal camping ground, where someone had lit a fire with a large amount of wood. This is what is causing a lot of smoke and leading onlookers to believe a fire has broken out in the forest.
“There is no cause for concern, it is an illegal camping ground where someone used a lot of logs and it is causing a significant amount of smoke. This is an ongoing problem that we have where people make fires illegally and leave them unattended,” says Philip Prins from Table Mountain National Parks.
Newlands crews responded to reports of the fire and secured the area this morning.
Locals are reminded to never start a fire in areas without proper permission.
#NEWSTART@TableMountainNP @NCCWildfires Newlands crew have responded to a fire on the front of Table Mountain.#WeHaveGotYourBack#FireIsEveryonesFight@CPFPA1 @TableMntnWatch @TableMountainCa @cptfrs @wo_fire @vwsfires @WildfiresUpdate @FireVictorBravo @EnviroWildfires
— NCC Wildfires (@NCCWildfires) December 9, 2019
@wo_fire @vwsfires @TableMountainNP Looks like there is a fire starting on Table Mountain above Kirstenbosch pic.twitter.com/xEyUMe8dnL
— Garth (@GarthOfHearts) December 9, 2019
Picture: Twitter
