South Africa evacuates small coastal towns near Cape Town as wildfires burn out of control

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Residents have been evacuated from small coastal towns near Cape Town in South Africa as wildfires swept down off surrounding mountains and burned out of control for a second day on Tuesday.

Authorities ordered a full evacuation of Pringle Bay, a coastal village popular with holidaymakers about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Cape Town. That followed people evacuating parts of the nearby town of Betty’s Bay on Monday.

The fires began Monday and were fueled by the hot, dry summer weather and strong coastal winds. Annelie Rabie, mayor of the Overstrand municipality that oversees the towns, said as many as six wildfires had broken out in the area. Four of them had been contained or extinguished, she said, but one was heading straight for Pringle Bay.

The Overstrand local government said a small number of homes had been gutted by fire. No injuries were reported but authorities issued a code red, meaning the fires presented a serious and immediate danger to people and property.

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Around 95% of a nearby nature reserve had also been burned, the local government said.

Wildfires are relatively common in the mountain ranges around Cape Town and further down the coast in the South African summer. Authorities are on constant alert, but it’s unusual for towns to be completely evacuated.

Residents of Pringle Bay were moving to a nearby town, local authorities said, while firefighters battled to get the remaining fires under control. Helicopters were scooping up water from the ocean in containers dangling from the bottom of the choppers and dumping the water on the fires, a common tactic used in the region.

Wildfires have broken out in numerous parts of South Africa’s Western Cape province in recent weeks, including one on the slopes of the world-famous Table Mountain overlooking Cape Town this weekend. That was quickly brought under control.

A huge fire swept across Table Mountain in 2021, causing extensive damage and taking days to put out.

The main causes of the wildfires are discarded cigarettes, people lighting cooking fires or burning debris, and sometimes arson, according to the Western Cape local government. Coastal winds fan the blazes and can make them large and unpredictable.

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