WATCH: Aerial footage of St Francis Bay runaway fire

A helicopter has finally been secured to help douse a runaway fire that has gutted homes in the seaside town of St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape. No injuries have been reported.

A few minutes after announcing that a helicopter would be sent to affected areas, Disaster Volunteer Group later said the chopper would no longer be released.

"The fire chopper will unfortunately [not] be coming. A pilot could not be secured and we are running out of light hours. All the firefighters and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to save as many homes as they can," the volunteer group said on its Facebook page.