61 astonishing photos of the #MuizenbergFire shared on Twitter

Over the past 24 or so hours, South Africans have been avidly following the progress of a devastating wildfire raging across Cape Town’s Southern Peninsula. The massive blaze, which started in the early hours of Sunday morning, was fanned by strong winds, causing it to spread rapidly.

While initially the fire was contained to a section of Table Mountain National Park, it spread rapidly throughout the day and night eventually becoming a threat to a number of suburbs including Noordhoek, Muizenburg, Fish Hoek, and Tokai. As winds picked up throughout the course of Sunday and into the early hours of Monday morning, the efforts of those battling the blaze were severely hampered.

As well as spreading the flames, firefighting helicopters were unable to take off and fly, neutralising one of the biggest weapons in their arsenal. The fire even spread across Chapman’s Peak, one of Cape Town’s most popular tourist attractions.

At one stage in the early of hours of Monday morning, the fire was advancing in a line from the top of the peak right down to the ocean.

A number of homes in the affected suburbs have had to be evacuated, with some damaged. An old-age home in the area was also evacuated as a precautionary measure. Throughout the course of the fire, a number of people fighting and affected by it, have taken to Twitter to share photos of it.

The results underline the awesome, devastating power behind the blaze as well as the bravery of those battling against it.

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