Residents were evacuated from small coastal towns near Cape Town in South Africa as wildfires swept down from surrounding mountains and burned out of control since the beginning of this month.

Authorities ordered a full evacuation of Pringle Bay, a coastal village popular with holidaymakers about 80 kilometres from Cape Town and People evacuated parts of the nearby town of Betty’s Bay on Monday.

Moreover, reports indicate that wildfires are relatively common in the mountain ranges around Cape Town and further down the coast in the South African summer, but it’s unusual for towns to be completely evacuated and this fire is reported to have fuelled by the hot, dry weather and strong coastal winds.

Annelie Rabie, mayor of the Overstrand municipality that oversees the towns, said as many as six wildfires had broken out in the area and four of them were contained or extinguished.

Furthermore, the overstrand government said a small number of homes had been gutted. No injuries were reported but authorities issued a Code Red, meaning the fires presented a serious and immediate danger to people and property. It is also indicated that around 95% of a nearby nature reserve had also burned.

Local authorities viewed tha residents of Pringle Bay were moving to a nearby town, while firefighters battled to get remaining fires under control. Helicopters were scooping up water from the ocean and dumping it on the fire.