Dry, hot weather, strong wind that often changed direction and flammable alien vegetation complicated fighting the multiple wildfires that marked a devastating start to the new year in the Western Cape. Some of these blazes came threateningly close to towns such as Stanford and Hermanus.

Investigations are under way to determine the causes of some of the massive runaway fires in the Western Cape that have burnt several thousand hectares of land, destroyed homes, uprooted communities and damaged valuable farmland. Millions of rand have already been spent in the first half of January on round-the-clock aerial and ground firefighting operations in the province.

Social media has been abuzz with theories and speculations about possible causes, but fact-based answers are needed. The Overstrand Municipality has appointed Rob Erasmus of Enviro Wildfire Consultancy to investigate the Pearly Beach and Stanford fires that required six days of aerial and ground firefighting bombardment in an attempt to bring them under control. He confirmed that good progress was being made with the investigations.

Erasmus described it as "one of the biggest firefighting operations that the Overstrand has experienced". A "code red" was declared to access resources and support from surrounding municipalities.

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"A wide range of tasks were constantly being undertaken, including active firefighting, planning and predicting the direction of fire spread, evacuation planning and implementation, coordination between formal services and community groups, and the massive logistical support of providing fuel, food, water, equipment repairs, medical assistance and animal rescue support,"...