Nearly 300 firefighters battle wild blaze near SA navy base

Nearly 300 firefighters and three helicopters are battling a wildfire that broke out on Tuesday on a mountain overlooking Simon’s Town, about 40km (24 miles) south of Cape Town, South Africa.

The town hosts the country’s main and largest naval base.

The fire started on Tuesday morning and was spread by winds overnight, local media say.

“Only a single derelict building was damaged last night at around 8pm on the grounds of the SA Navy,” Cape Town’s emergency services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse was quoted as saying by IOL news website.

Several homes in the town’s Harbour Heights neighbourhood were evacuated minutes after midnight on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, Mr Carelse told the Eyewitness news site.

Five firefighters have been injured in the operation and two taken to hospital.