Two firefighters were seriously injured while battling the blaze above Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and were subsequently transferred for specialist care.
The Cape Winelands municipality said there were no other reports of injuries on a day in which god progress was made in bringing the fire under control.
However, the heat affected the amount of time the helicopters could stay in the air. The fire was attacked from above, in support of firefighters working on the ground in tough terrain.
The fire has raged for a few days now and, on Friday, it results in an orange pall over the sky, as smoke from fynbos and oil from other plants blended with the ash and billowed into the air.
Spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto said the incident command centre reported that, due to favourable wind conditions on Saturday, the aerial resources made good progress on the fire lines on the higher slopes and peaks of Bothmashop through to the Helshoogte Pass.
“The is a small fire line on the peak above Banhoek, but it is inaccessible by foot or vehicle, and water combing will be ineffective due to the steep cliffs,” she said.
“The fire in the valley below Jonkershoek is proving challenging. The teams reported that repeated flare-ups were difficult to bring under control due to the hot weather.”
BUSH
Jonkershoek is a vast area of forest and bush near the town of Stellenbosch.
“The firefighters, ground crews and vehicles will focus their attention on managing this fire during the relative cool of the night.” said Otto.
The South African Weather Service is predicting temperatures reaching into the high 30’s on Sunday, which will make the firefighters’ work even tougher.
There has, so far, been no loss of life or infrastructure.
The Municipality and its partners thanked everybody for the generous donations, and said there was more than enough for the next few days.