Wildfires tearing across Somerset West in the Western Cape have damaged one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious wine farms. Vergelegen CEO Don Tooth said 40% of the wine farm was burnt within a 12-hour period due to winds of more than 100km/h fanning the flames. He said some of the vineyards burnt down. But almost two-thirds of the farm is a conservation area for fynbos rehabilitation and much of it was ravaged the fire which was still raging on Wednesday afternoon. Cape Town fire and rescue services spokesman Theo Lane said 120 firefighters were being assisted by crews from Working on Fire and CapeNature. "In one or two areas it’s welcomed, but in other areas we would have liked another couple of years because fynbos does need fire to regenerate itself. We had our last big fire here in 2009 so we would have liked another in couple of years‚" Tooth said. He said the fire had not damaged any of the tourism infrastructure or houses, and there was no need to evacuate Vergelege...
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