The 2015 Cape wildfires were a series of

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s that burned across the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

from February to April 2015. Major fires burned across the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of ...

starting on 1 March in

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for "mice mountain") is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spo ...

and burning until 9 March, when firefighters extinguished it. The fire resulted in 1 death, 56 injuries, over of burnt land, and 13 damaged properties, of which 3 were destroyed. The cause of the fire was later determined to be

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. There were also major fires near

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and Porteville starting in February, which claimed the lives of 3 firefighters and a fire in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

that caused the evacuation of the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and burned over of land.

Major fires

Cape Peninsula

Muizenberg

The Muizenberg fire ignited in the afternoon on 1 March. The fire burned through the night and was brought under control until 2am the next morning, when it flared up again. By noon, 52 people had been treated for smoke inhalation, a firefighter had been treated for burn wounds and 2 bungalows and 5 homes had been destroyed. A number of buildings were evacuated, including 10 homes, a retirement village in Muizenberg and an old-age home in Noordhoek. The fire was being fought by a spotter plane, 2 fixed-wing water bombers, 4 helicopters, 18 support vehicles, 28 firefighting vehicles, 50 Working on Fire ground crew and 97 city firefighters.

Chapman's Peak Chapman's Peak is a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in Cape Town, South Africa. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the Atlantic Ocean, and a road, known ...

Drive and parts of

Ou Kaapse Weg Ou Kaapse Weg (Afrikaans for ''Old Cape Way''), numbered as route M64, is a mountain pass in the Cape Peninsula that connects the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town with the Fish Hoek Valley. It traverses the Steenberg mountains and passes throu ...

had been closed due to the fire. Damage to these roads lead to the

Cape Town Cycle Tour The Cape Town Cycle Tour is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the Union Cycliste Internationale's Golden Bike Series. South Africa hosts some of the l ...

being shortened to avoid them. The fire was reportedly being fueled by strong winds and burning towards. A

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

base was under risk of burning. By the third day of the Muizenberg fire, flames had spread to Noordhoek, Lakeside and

Hout Bay Hout Bay ( af, Houtbaai, meaning "Wood Bay") is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of Cape Town. The name "Hout Bay" can ...

Hout Bay

The Hout Bay fire spread from the Muizenberg fire by 3 March and burned for 3 days. The fire was fought by members of the

National Sea Rescue Institute The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is a voluntary non-profit organization in South Africa tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention. It operates 41 bases (as of 2020) comprising coastal stations and inland stations on dams. Ther ...

, 8 Working on Fire volunteers and 15

SANParks South African National Parks (SANParks) is the body responsible for managing South Africa's national parks. SANParks was formed in 1926, and currently manages 19 parks consisting of , over 3% of the total area of South Africa. Many parks offer ...

firefighters, firefighting helicopters, and residents and staff of the Tierboskloof suburb. A number of firefighters were transported up the mountains by helicopter to extinguish flames that were inaccessible by foot. The fire was brought under control on 6 March by 3am and heat sensing equipment was used to find any hot areas that could flare up again.

Cape Point

Working On Fire Bell UH-1H Iroquois ZS-HLA (6875919267)

The Cape Point fire started on Wednesday, 4 March in

Cape Point Nature Reserve The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

after a lightning strike in the area. Firefighters managed to bring the fire under control, but strong winds fueled the fire and made it difficult for aerial firefighting resources to be used and the fire flared up again on Thursday. On Saturday, 71-year-old firefighting helicopter pilot, Hendrik Willem Marais, was killed when his Bell Huey helicopter crashed while fighting the fire.

Mayor of Cape Town The Mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. In the past, the position of Mayor has varied between that of an ...

Patricia de Lille Patricia de Lille (née Lindt; born 17 February 1951) is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and leader of the political party Good. She was previously Mayor of Cape Town from 2011 to 2018, ...

and

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism was a department of the government of South Africa from 1994 to 2009. Past Cabinet Ministers of Environmental Affairs and Tourism After the election of President Jacob Zuma in May 2009 the de ...

Edna Molewa Edna or EDNA may refer to: Places United States *Edna, California, a census-designated place *Edna Lake, Idaho * Edna, Iowa, an unincorporated town in Lyon County *Edna Township, Cass County, Iowa *Edna, Kansas, a city * Edna, Kentucky, an uni ...

sent their condolences. The fire in Cape Point flared up again on Sunday and 70-80 firefighters with water tanks were sent to control the fire.

Tokai

The Cape Peninsula fires had spread to Tokai by 4 March. The

offices in Tokai Forest were evacuated.

Groot Constantia Groot Constantia is the oldest wine estate in South Africa and provincial heritage site in the suburb of Constantia in Cape Town, South Africa. "Groot" in Dutch and Afrikaans translates as "great" (as in large) in English. History In 1685, ...

, the oldest wine estate in South Africa suffered vineyard damage and had to be evacuated. Due to the historical value of the farm and its antiques,

Iziko Museums The Iziko Museums of Cape Town (from isiXhosa Iziko is''“a hearth”'' – the traditional centre of the home where families would get together to share oral histories) — an amalgamation of 12 national museums located near the Cape Town cit ...

sent a team to retrieve items of historic value from Groot Constantia Manor House.

Other major fires

Porterville

By 25 February, fires in the Winterhoek Mountains had burnt over of vegetation. 60 firefighters, 3 helicopters and 2 fixed-wing aircraft were deployed to fight the fire. On 6 March, A firefighter, Nazeem Davies was killed when his fire truck overturned and fell off the Dasklip Pass. He was returning from fighting fires on the mountains near Porterville.

Stellenbosch

On 9 March, a fire ignited in the

Jonkershoek Nature Reserve Jonkershoek Nature Reserve is a CapeNature nature reserve located approximately south-east of the town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It covers an area of approximately . Description The reserve lies north of the ...

near

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

. Three helicopters were deployed to fight the fire. By the next day, over of vegetation had been burnt. On 11 March, the

's Sport Performance Institute in Coetzenburg was evacuated and of land had been burnt.

Wellington

On 21 April, a fire broke out on a hiking trail on Bainskloof near

. Close to 200 firefighters were deployed to fight the fire. On 23 April a firefighting Huey helicopter crash killed the pilot, Darrel Rea and safety officer, Jastun Visagie while they were fighting the Bainskloof fires.

Responses

In the days following the start of the fire, the number of complaints received by Cape Town's line for reporting drivers who discard

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

butts onto the road jumped from an average of 7 complaints per day to an average of 88 complaints per day. Fire stations also received donations of food and drinks for the firefighters who were fighting the fires.

References

{{reflist Wildfires in South Africa Western Cape fire season Western Cape fire season Fire season 2015 Fires in Cape Town Table Mountain fire, 2015 Articles containing video clips