City officials were alerted about the fire before 9am on Sunday. “About 8.45am the city’s fire and rescue service was alerted to a vegetation fire above Philip Kgosana Drive. Fire crews were immediately dispatched to the scene with the fire spreading from Rhodes Memorial towards the University of Cape Town (UCT),” said Cape Town fire and rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse. On Monday afternoon asthma sufferers were urged to stay indoors or leave the fire zone as the fire continued to worsen. A metro cop told TimesLIVE: “We came here at about 7am and we saw the flames jump the freeway [Philip Kgosana Drive]. The wind is terrible and much worse than yesterday [Sunday.]”