CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CU)_South African firefighters continue to work for a third day to extinguish the wildfire along Cape Town’s Table Mountain on Tuesday (21 April). Strong and fast blowing winds of up to 45 kilometres per hour was hindering the efforts of the water-bombing helicopters, as more than 250 firefighters were tackling to contain what has been described as the area’s worst blazes in years.
A suspect was arrested on Sunday night, on Devil’s Peak, after he confessed that he had deliberately started an additional fire, and therefore authorities are investigating if he was responsible for the first fire which began close to the University of Cape Town (UCT).
According to officials, more than 400 hectares of vegetation in the Table Mountain National Park have so far been destroyed by the fire which started early Sunday morning. It has also damaged several historical buildings and monuments, with the UCT campus being the first site to be hit. The Jagger Library, which contained rare books and manuscripts on African studies, were among the numerous buildings at the university that were burned.
Other historical buildings which burned down included the 225-year-old thatch-roofed Mostert Mill and a tea room near a memorial to British mining magnate Cecil Rhodes.
“It is not only the historic buildings themselves that have been lost, but their contents and collections,” the Cape Town Heritage Trust said in a statement.
Officials say that four firefighters sustained burn wounds and were hospitalised for treatment, but no civilians have been injured. A disaster management spokeswoman said the homes in the Walmer Estate, and the schools in the Vredehoek area have been asked to evacuate.
Cape Town is known to be a city often battling with fires, with the last large fires reported in 2020. Nevertheless, higher temperatures and climate change are also said be contributing factors.
