Cape Town: Hundreds of firefighters battling blaze in South African city
More than 300 firefighters have been battling a wildfire on a mountain near Cape Town for a second day.
The fire, on the mountain slopes near the seaside town of Simon's Town, around 25 miles (40km) south of the city, started on Tuesday.
Five firefighters have been injured and two taken to the hospital, the city's emergency services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said.
One neighbourhood was evacuated at around 1am on Wednesday, after the fire threatened but didn't reach local houses, he added.
Emergency services used three helicopters to scoop up water from the nearby South Atlantic Ocean and drop it on the fire.
Firefighters had worked to put out the fire through most of Tuesday and overnight, but it was still burning, Mr Carelse said.
The fire lit up the mountain that overlooks Simon's Town, a small resort town that hosts South Africa's flagship naval base, where a derelict building was damaged, he said.
On X, formerly Twitter, the city's mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, thanked the "incredible" firefighters involved and Denver Jordaan, a volunteer firefighter, posted a picture of the blaze.
As it became light, @pmcafrica posted a video, showing a huge column of smoke rising from the mountain.
Wildfires often break out on the mountain slopes around Cape Town in the hot, dry months from November to April.
They become dangerous and unpredictable when they are fanned by strong coastal winds, which officials said had contributed to the Simon's Town fire.
In 2021, a huge wildfire burned across the slopes of Cape Town's world-famous Table Mountain for days, destroying nearly a dozen buildings, including some historic structures at the University of Cape Town.
