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- Mitchell's Pass near Ceres has a stop-and-go in place due to a wildfire.
- The fire is the 76th to be recorded in the Cape Winelands District Municipality in ten days.
- Ground and aerial support are on site to suppress the blaze.
Mitchell's Pass near Ceres has a stop-and-go in place, as firefighters battle a wildfire.
Teams from the Cape Winelands District Municipality's Fire Services are attending to a fire on Mitchell's Pass, which was reported at 16:40. The fire, which started on the Witels River side of the pass, has since jumped the Mitchell's Pass road, and the pass has a stop-and-go in place.
"Full ground and aerial support have been deployed," said municipal spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto.
The municipality has been plagued by wildfires over the last week. Between Wednesday 19 and Tuesday 25 January, the Cape Winelands District Municipality's Fires Services responded to 75 fires. Seven of these were considered, "... notable for either their potential for damage to livelihood or property".
Three of those seven were likely caused by lightning strikes.
READ | Robertson blaze 90% contained after four days of firefighting efforts
The two largest fires, Agter-Vink Rivier, on the Robertson Worcester border, and Pienaarskloof in Touwsriver stretched resources to their limits.
The Agter-Vink Rivier fire was brought under control after five days of fire fighting, while firefighters were on the scene in Touwsriver for four days.
The Western Cape is in the midst of its fire season, which takes place during the hot, dry, and windy summer months, and, on average, sees between 17 000 and 20 000 fires each year.
Cape Winelands Chief Fire Officer Wayne Josias said: "While we applaud the incredible achievement of our fire teams under difficult circumstances, as they not only managed to avoid injury, but through excellent planning of finite resources, achieved our primary goal: Which is the prevention of loss of life and livelihood.
"We wish to remind the public that fires are everyone's responsibility. We are entering the hottest part of our summer months, please consider enjoying our public spaces in ways that do not include making fires, even when in designated braai spots.
