Charlotte Bauer | Diary of a Semigrant: As CT keeps setting ablaze, am I becoming a fire tourist?

‘Would you like your hake grilled or fried, ma’m?’ 

The waiter has to shout over the deafening whirr of the helicopters circling overhead as they swoop down into the harbour, scooping up buckets of water to douse the fire roaring across the mountain a few hundred metres behind the restaurant. 

The car park has been turned into a makeshift incident room and is crammed with flashing fire trucks. Dozens of emergency workers mill about, cracking tired backs. The community WhatsApp group is pinging off the hook. People living on the mountain-side above Main Road are evacuating, commuters returning from the city are frantic because they can’t reach their homes due to road closures, someone has lost their dog, someone has lost their car keys, a house above the bay is burning.