Firefighters battle blazes on hillsides overlooking Cape Town

Wildfires broke out on hillsides overlooking Cape Town’s city centre and Sea Point and Fresnaye suburbs on Sunday, threatening homes and leaving South Africa’s top tourist attraction covered in a smoky pall.

The fires, which raged on several fronts on the slopes of Signal Hill and Lion’s Head, were fanned by strong southeasterly winds and razed a large tract of natural vegetation. Helicopters were used to dump water on the flames before it became too dark to fly, leaving ground crews to battle the blaze.

“The fire has not been contained yet,” Theo Layne, a spokesman for the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Department, said by phone. “No residential properties have been damaged and there haven’t been any injuries.”

Cape Town last experienced serious wildfires two years ago that destroyed several buildings and a vast tract of vegetation, and forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.

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