Cape Town fire season occurs from November through May. Here’s what you need to know to stay safe.
Cape Town is notoriously prone to wildfires that occur in natural vegetation when it is hot and dry in the summer months, which coincide with the windy season – creating ideal conditions for wildfires to occur and quickly get out of control. This season has already been earmarked to be the worst fire season in 8 years.
Cape Town fires are particularly common in the Table Mountain National Park due to the natural conditions in our fynbos ecosystem. But, homes and businesses are not exempt from danger, as any fire can spread quickly and far – up to tens of kilometres from the source. It is most important to keep your home, family and business safe, protecting life and property, as our urban living spaces share a boundary with the national parks in many parts of Cape Town and the Western Cape.
In Cape Town, there are various organisations in place to manage fire safety and interventions that should be taken, both to avoid fire and to control it when it happens.
Home and work checklist for fire safety
- Always have a “grab bag” with your important documents in it such as birth certificates and passports.
- Assign tasks to family members or staff such as placing pets or kids in the car and driving them to safety at a friend’s house out of smoke danger.
- If you need to stay and help fight fires, cover your head, nose and mouth and protect your eyes with goggles. Wear good shoes and gloves.
- Wetting the roof and gutters can stop hot ash from burning the roof.
- Keep grass cut as short grass helps slow down fire.
- Keep a hose pipe rolled up and ready to put out fires.
- Keep a fire extinguisher in kitchens and train staff or family members how to use it.
- If you volunteer on the mountain in a wildfire, take a spade – this helps to beat out fire or throw sand on smouldering grass tufts.
- Always remember, your safety is first. If you are not properly trained, call for assistance.
Each year, the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service contracts the use of two Huey helicopters and a Cessna 182 spotter plane to support its firefighting efforts. These aircraft allow for mountain wildfires to be combated in inaccessible areas that pose a serious risk to property and life. For the first time since using the aerial appliances, they will be branded this season, to be clearly identifiable as City resources.
Emergency & Contact information
Fire and Rescue Service Department
24-hour emergencies:
Telephone: 107 (landline) or 021 480 7700 (cellphone)
General fire safety enquiries:
Telephone: 021 590 1971 / 021 590 1975
To report a fire in the Table Mountain National Park
Please call:
- Hotline: 086 110 6417 or
- The City’s Regional Fire Control No: (021) 590 1900
- Newlands Fire Base: Tel: +27(0) 21 689 7438
Fire Prevention Tips
There are simple preventatives we can all pay heed to – such as not lighting a fire or braai on a hot and windy day, and never extinguishing a cigarette out of doors, such as out of a car window, in grass or when hiking.
For property owners, ember-proofing any area requires the removal of all flammable plants up to 7m from a building, as well as overhanging branches. Checking and cleaning gutters and roofing for debris is important too.
Other interventions that you can implement on a larger scale include considering your construction materials if you are remodelling and supplementing them for fire-resistant alternatives. You should also ensure full continued compliance with all local and national fire safety codes and think about installing fire protection systems such as overhead sprinklers.
Unfortunately, despite all the precautions, a fire can happen to any size business at any time. That is why protecting your employees and your property should be a top priority. Following the above steps will help you avoid any fires breaking out and minimise fire-related damages. While there may be no such thing as truly “fireproof,” these guidelines are an excellent starting point for safeguarding your business.
Cape Town fires in recent times
December 2023 saw the City of Cape Town issue a code red on Christmas Day as they battled several fires in Cape Town that raged for close to a week. Fire devastation occurred in particular through the Cape Point area, where people were evacuated from their homes in Simonstown, Scarborough and Capri. Thanks to the firefighters’ efforts and veld fire prevention and maintenance techniques such as the burning of firebreaks, no properties were damaged. By 18 January 2024, there have been a total of 22 new fire incidents, with SANParks firefighting teams demonstrating swift response and effective containment. This influx has occurred particularly in the southern section of Table Mountain National Park, in Kalk Bay, Oceanview and Red Hill areas, as well as in the north of the park, in the Signal Hill and Pipe Track areas, posing significant risk to the communities living adjacent to the park, particularly with hot temperatures and strong wind conditions being experienced.
In April 2021, the Rhodes Memorial fire, also known as the 2021 Table Mountain fire, saw several buildings devastated, including four buildings at the University of Cape Town along with their Special Collections library, the restaurant at Rhodes Memorial and the old historic windmill next to the M3, Mostert’s Mill. Over 250 firefighters were involved in putting out the fires and five were hospitalised. Later it was acknowledged that mitigation strategies should have been put in place, citing the ivy-lined walls as a fire hazard.
“Removing the understory of pine plantation and preventing excessive build-up of leaf litter in general is a good place to start,” said UCT’s Department of Biological Sciences’ Emeritus Professor William Bond, adding, “Wildfires are an entirely natural feature of many flammable ecosystems. They are bound to happen, and many forms of life require them to complete their life cycles.” Until recently, he says, “veld fires that cross over into urban areas have been quite rare in the Cape”. Oftentimes woody alien tree species are far more flammable than our local native fynbos species. These trees are able to produce embers that become airborne and can travel great distances from 30 to 45km and more.
“Ember-proofing any area, according to California guidelines, requires removal of flammable plants up to 7m from a building, as well as overhanging branches, if necessary. Checking and cleaning gutters and roofing for debris is important too. Very useful pamphlets to ‘firescape’ your property are available from Working on Fire and Fire Wise, and this information needs to be made more widely available to those with properties close to the urban edge.”
Resources
Western Cape Government
City of Cape Town
- Basic household fire safety
- Fire and life safety – home checklist (Afrikaans, Xhosa, English)
- Fire and safety – workplace checklist (Afrikaans, Xhosa, English)
