Cape Town - The seven-day wildfire at Gysmanshoek Pass was reported to be almost entirely contained on Monday after a vast spread, except for one area burning within a deep gorge in the Boosmansbos Reserve.
Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) fire services, CapeNature, ground crews from Working on Fire and a local landowner managed to prevent the entire wildfire from spreading to infrastructure after an estimation of 3 500 hectares was burnt.
They were currently monitoring the area for flare-ups while continuing with mop-up operations.
While there were no injuries to people, one house, a shed, farming implements and orchards were damaged. However, the municipality said that firefighters were able to save seven homes affected by the blaze.
GRDM communication officer Marillia Veldkornet said they were unable to determine when the fire would be completely contained but all accessible areas were contained and efforts were made to ensure no further infrastructure damage occurred.
“Rain forecasted for Tuesday will hopefully assist in extinguishing inaccessible areas,” Veldkornet said.
Meanwhile, Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) fire crews responded to a blaze along the Pipe Track in Hout Bay on Sunday night that was in close proximity to an informal settlement.
TMNP fire manager Philip Prins said the probable cause behind the fire was negligence around a camp fire that was either unattended to, started by children or both.