Fire and response
The wildfire started on the morning of 18 April 2021 near Rhodes Memorial, Devil's Peak in Table Mountain National Park. Firefighters were alerted at . The fire was reported to have been started by a vagrant, and spread through old pine trees and debris, generating its own wind, towards the university campus and city. There was an extreme fire danger alert on the same day, with high temperature and low humidity. Initially, the resulting smoke and wind updrafts caused by the fire prevented aerial firefighting support from being deployed. Later, over 250 firefighters were involved in fighting the fire and four helicopters were used to drop water onto the fire. By 14:10 SAST, students at the University of Cape Town were evacuated. Official warnings were issued for hikers in theCasualties and damage
Firefighters
On 19 April Western Cape Premier Alan Winde stated that a total of five firefighters were hospitalised. At least four of them were hospitalised due to burn injuries.Rhodes Memorial
The fire burnt down a restaurant at the Rhodes Memorial and its adjoining chapel.University of Cape Town
More than six structures at the campus of the University of Cape Town suffered damage. Also affected was the special collections department of the UCT Libraries system, housed in Jagger Library, part of the research wing of UCT's main library. Although a fire detection system prevented the fire from reaching the rest of the main library, the reading room of Jagger Library was gutted by the flames, and some of the rare collections in the special collections department, which held over 1,300 collections and over 85,000 books and other items, were likely lost. A later assessment found that a vast majority of the African Studies Published Print Collection (about 70,000 items) and the entirety of the African Studies Film Collection DVDs (about 3,500 items) had been destroyed, along with documents relating to the university itself as well as any manuscripts or archives being kept in the Reading Room for digitization or after being digitized, but that the rare and antique collections kept underground, including significant documentation and works of the San and Khoi people who lived in the area in the 1870s, had been preserved. The H.W. Pearson building caught on fire, although the Bolus Herbarium housed within narrowly escaped destruction and water damage. One of the damaged sections was the Plant Conservation Unit, which studiesMostert's Mill
The fire also destroyed the Mostert's Mill, the oldest working windmill in South Africa, built in 1796, and four thatched cottages behind it.Newlands
The government reported that an unoccupied ministerial residence owned by the Department of Public Works and used by Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi had been “completely destroyed”.Aftermath
On , UCT vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng suspended all academic activities for the following two days. On , Phakeng said students could return to their residences within 72 hours, with the exception of those who lived in either Smuts Hall or Fuller Hall. She added that restoring Fuller Hall to a habitable condition could take months. Most students were able to return to Smuts and Fuller Halls on .Investigation
On at 20:10 SAST, a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze but later released due to a lack of evidence. An investigation into the cause of the fire by South African National Parks concluded that the fire was most likely started by arsonists in throwing a fire starting object out of a vehicle.See also
*References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Table Mountain fire, 2021 2021 meteorology 2021 in South Africa 2021 wildfires 2021 fires in Africa 2020s in Cape Town April 2021 events in South Africa Fires in Cape Town Table Mountain University of Cape Town Fire season 2021 Wildfires in South Africa