Parking-lot fire breaks out during Royals-Capitals match

A fire just outside Boland Park briefly took attention off the SA20 match between Paarl Royals (PR) and Pretoria Capitals (PC) but did not interrupt play or cause any damage. The blaze broke out during the fourth over of PR's chase, in the parking lot on the western side of the ground, and appeared unconnected to the mountain fires that have been raging since earlier in the week. It was put out by the seventh over, with no damage reported.

Spectators were not required to evacuate the venue, though several left while the flames were still visible, ostensibly to check on the state of their vehicles. The match continued as the fire brigade got to work. Images of scorched earth emerged after the blaze was put out, though a curtain of smoke surrounded the ground from the get-go.

"We did notice it," Richard das Neves, PR's assistant coach, said. "There have been a few fires around Pearl Valley (the accommodation used by Paarl Royals) in the last week or so. We were scrambling for DLS in case we had to get off the field. But if there's anywhere in the world where the firefighters know what they're doing, it's here."

Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj, whose team was in the field when the fire broke out, had not known the source of the smoke his players saw.

"A fire in the parking lot? Wow," he said after the game. "There was a lot of smoke out there, so I just assumed it was from that. It's very hot out there."

The 19th match of the SA20 was played in heavy haze from fires in the neighbouring town of Franschhoek, which began on Wednesday. By Saturday, the fire had spread to various adjacent areas as high winds and hot, dry temperatures made it difficult to completely put out the flames. Boland Park was hazy at the start of the match and completely shrouded in smoke by the innings break.

Wildfires are common in the Western Cape in summer, when high temperatures and strong winds create conditions on the surrounding mountains that sustain fires. Thousands of hectares of vegetation are burned annually but damage to persons or property is rare. In 2015, a nine-day fire, which was caused by arson, crept close to fast bowler Dale Steyn's home while the South Africa team were playing the ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, David Miller and Morne Morkel all have been or remain residents of the same area.