Late on Monday, the City of Cape Town appealed to residents in Kloof Street and Suikerbossie Road, Gordon's Bay, to listen to their radios for updates on the situation and asked them not to travel, for their own safety and so that emergency vehicles could move easily through the area.
Law enforcement and emergency personnel were stationed in the area to help if evacuations were ordered. Residents in Rooi Els, Rocky Bay and Kogel Bay, areas which firefighters were worried about, were also prepared to evacuate their homes if necessary.
On Monday, hundreds of firefighters battled gale-force winds which fanned the two raging mountain blazes in the Overberg. And they may be in for a repeat performance on Tuesday, as conditions favourable for runaway fires persist.
Besides the two major fires in the Overberg, which firefighters responded to on Monday, city firefighters also rushed out to at least five blazes in the Atlantis area.
The City of Cape Town said that in three days, more than 120 shack fires had been reported in 11 informal settlements and three people had been killed.
It warned with the high temperatures and strong winds being experienced, the risk of fires increased, and the weather service said "conditions favourable for the development of runaway fires" were expected in the northern parts of the West Coast district on Tuesday.
Heat-wave conditions were also expected to persist there and the city's Disaster Risk Management Centre was on full alert.
Earlier on Monday, a thick pall of smoke hung over the city centre as smoke from the Overberg fires was blown towards Cape Town.
It was suspected the fires had been set by arsonists.
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