2021 Table Mountain fire
{{Short description|Cape Town fire that destroyed historic mill and library collections}}
{{Use South African English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox wildfire
| title = 2021 Cape Town fire
| image =Table mountain 2021 fire 1.jpg
| caption = Fire trucks on the Hospital Bend interchange going into the City Bowl on 19 April
| location = Table Mountain National Park and Southern Suburbs, Cape Town, South Africa
| cost =
| date = {{start date and age|df=yes|2021|4|18}}
| time = {{nowrap|08:45 SAST}} {{nowrap|(06:45 UTC)}}
| timezone =
| total =
| landuse = National park, university, suburban area
| buildings =
| fatalities =
| perps =
| motive =
| image_map =
{{mapframe | frame = yes | plain = yes | frame-align = center
| frame-width = 250 | frame-height = 250 | frame-coordinates={{coord|-33.94|18.44}} | zoom = 12
| type = point | id = Q3429602 | marker = monument | marker-color = #FF8000 | title = Rhodes Memorial
| type2 = point | id2 = Q6916927 | marker2 = cross | marker-color2 = #FF8000 | title2 = Mostert's Mill
| type3 = point | id3 = Q106545856 | marker3 = library | marker-color3 = #FF8000 | title3 = Jagger Library
| type4 = point | id4 = Q106599369 | marker4 = college | marker-color4 = #FF8000 | title4 = HW Pearson Building
}}
}}
The 2021 Table Mountain fire (also known as the Rhodes Memorial fire or Cape Town fire{{r|GroundUp-19April}}{{Cite web|title=DEVELOPING {{!}} Cape Town fire 'not out of the woods yet', UCT suspends classes until 23 April|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/developing-strong-winds-fan-cape-town-fire-further-evacuations-underway-20210419|access-date=2021-04-20|website=News24|language=en-US}}) was a major fire that started on 18 April 2021 in and around Table Mountain National Park and the neighbourhoods of Newlands, Rosebank, Mowbray and Rondebosch in Cape Town, South Africa. The damage to sites in the Table Mountain area included the Rhodes Memorial, where a restaurant burned down; the upper campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT), where the Special Collections library was gutted; and Mostert's Mill, a historic windmill that burned down. In addition, five firefighters were hospitalised.{{r|dm1}}
Fire and response
The wildfire started on the morning of 18 April 2021 near Rhodes Memorial, Devil's Peak in Table Mountain National Park.{{Cite web|date=18 April 2021|title=Table Mountain Wildfire Threatens University of Cape Town|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-04-18/table-mountain-wildfire-threatens-university-of-cape-town|url-status=live|website=US News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418173109/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-04-18/table-mountain-wildfire-threatens-university-of-cape-town |archive-date=18 April 2021 }} Firefighters were alerted at {{nowrap|08:45 SAST}} {{nowrap|(06:45 UTC)}}. The fire was reported to have been started by a vagrant,{{cite news |title=Two firefighters hospitalised as Cape Town heritage gems including Mostert Mill and UCT library gutted |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-04-18-two-firefighters-hospitalised-as-cape-town-heritage-gems-including-mostert-mill-and-university-library-gutted/ |work=TimesLIVE |language=en-ZA |last1=Hyman |first1=Aron |last2=Naidoo |first2=Yasantha}} 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{{Cite news|last=Wroughton|first=Lesley|title=South Africa wildfire burns University of Cape Town, library of antiquities|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/04/18/south-africa-fire-university-cape-town/|access-date=2021-04-19|issn=0190-8286}} were involved in fighting the fire and four helicopters were used to drop water onto the fire.{{Cite web|title=Cape Town wildfire forces evacuation of university students|url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/world-news/2021/04/18/cape-town-wildfire-forces-evacuation-of-university-students/|access-date=2021-04-18|website=Shropshire Star|date=18 April 2021 }}
By 14:10 SAST, students at the University of Cape Town were evacuated. Official warnings were issued for hikers in the Newlands Forest area of Table Mountain National Park to also evacuate. At 16:05 SAST, South African National Parks (SANParks) announced that the restaurant at Rhodes Memorial had been destroyed in the fire. The M3 road was also closed, with the fire spreading to the other side of it.{{cite web |title=Rhodes Memorial Restaurant has burnt down, confirms Table Mountain National Park |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/rhodes-memorial-restaurant-has-burnt-down-confirms-table-mountain-national-park-c3714f98-455d-4897-819a-6cdf021d37c4 |website=IOL |last=Tembo |first=Theolin}}
On 19 April 2021 (8:00 SAST) homes in the Vredehoek, Walmer Estate and University Estate area of Cape Town were evacuated as a precautionary measure.{{cite news |last1=Keeton |first1=Claire |title=UPDATE Cape Town fire 'largely contained at this stage' |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-04-19-update-cape-town-fire-largely-contained-at-this-stage/ |access-date=19 April 2021 |agency=Times Live}} This included the evacuation of the Disa Park residential complex.
By 15:00 SAST on {{dts|2021.04.19|format=dm}}, firefighters reported that the fire had been "largely contained".{{r|TimesLive-19April}}
Casualties and damage
{{multiple image
| align = right
| total_width = 250
| image1 = Mosterts Mill.jpg
| image2 = Mostarts_mill_burnt_01.jpg
| footer = Mostert's Mill in 2012 and on 20 April 2021
}}
File:FeesMustFall protests at UCT - the second day of protests 01 (cropped).JPG (which houses UCT's Special Collections) in 2015]]
= 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.{{Cite web|title=Cape Town firefighters continue to battle blaze|url=https://www.enca.com/news/cape-town-firefighters-continue-battle-blaze|access-date=2021-04-19|website=eNCA}}
= Rhodes Memorial =
File:Burnt Rhodes Memorial Restaurant.jpg
The fire burnt down a restaurant at the Rhodes Memorial and its adjoining chapel.{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Rebecca |title=Calculating the losses of Cape Town's three days of Hell |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-04-20-calculating-the-losses-of-cape-towns-three-days-of-hell/ |access-date=22 April 2021 |agency=Daily Maverick.}}
{{external media
| image1 = [https://web.archive.org/web/20210420061113if_/https://www.groundup.org.za/media/uploads/images/photographers/Ashraf%20Hendricks/20210419-ctfire/capefire-20210419-img_4000hr.jpg Remains of Jagger Reading Room]{{r|GroundUp-19April}}
| image2 = [https://www.groundup.org.za/media/uploads/images/photographers/Ashraf%20Hendricks/20210419-ctfire/capefire-20210419-img_4475hr.jpg Remains of Cadboll House]{{r|GroundUp-19April}}
| image3 = [https://www.groundup.org.za/media/uploads/images/photographers/Ashraf%20Hendricks/20210419-ctfire/capefire-20210419-img_4125hr.jpg The roof of the HW Pearson building burned.]{{r|GroundUp-19April}}
}}
= University of Cape Town =
More than six structures at the campus of the University of Cape Town suffered damage.{{cite web |last1=SONDAY |first1=AAMIRAH |title=Fighting fires at UCT: Collaboration was key |url=https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-04-20-fighting-fires-at-uct-collaboration-was-key |publisher=News University of Cape Town |access-date=20 April 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Ehlinger |first1=Maija |last2=Formanek |first2=Ingrid |last3=Dean |first3=Sarah |last4=Paget |first4=Sharif |title='Out of control' fire breaks out in Cape Town's Table Mountain National Park |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/18/africa/table-mountain-south-africa-fire-intl-afr/index.html |access-date=19 April 2021 |agency=CNN Travel}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/lib/about/library-maps|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210419044508/http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/lib/about/library-maps|archive-date=19 April 2021|url-status=dead|title=Library Maps | UCT Libraries|website=www.lib.uct.ac.za|access-date=19 April 2021}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.specialcollections.uct.ac.za/about-libraries |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210419053118/http://www.specialcollections.uct.ac.za/about-libraries |url-status=dead |title=Libraries Special Collections |website= |access-date=19 April 2021 }}{{r|timeslive}} 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.{{r|thesouthafrican|timeslive}}{{Cite web|title=A message from @UCTLibrary Executive Director Ujala Satgoor on the fire that devastated the Reading Room of the Jagger Library where @UCTLibrary_SC situated|url=https://twitter.com/uctlibrary_sc/status/1383918741851820047|access-date=2021-04-18|website=Twitter}} 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.{{Cite web|title=73,500 valuable items lost from African Studies collection in UCT library fire|url=https://ewn.co.za/2021/04/21/73-500-valuable-items-lost-from-african-studies-collection-in-uct-library-fire|access-date=2021-04-22|website=ewn.co.za|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Precious historical 19th century San archive saved in UCT library fire|url=https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/414398/precious-historical-san-archive-saved-in-uct-library-fire|access-date=2021-04-22|website=CapeTalk|language=en-ZA |last=Friedman |first=Barbara}}
The H.W. Pearson building caught on fire, although the Bolus Herbarium housed within narrowly escaped destruction and water damage.{{Cite web|author= Craig Hilton-Taylor|title=I heard from Callen Cohen that the fire in the Pearson building is out and that the Bolus is safe.|url=https://twitter.com/durleigh/status/1383844030769893377|access-date=2021-04-18|website=Twitter}}{{Cite web|author=Alex Lansdowne|title=The top floor was burnt but it did not get to the Herbarium.|url=https://twitter.com/alexlansdowne/status/1383834894967603205|access-date=2021-04-18|website=Twitter}}{{cite news |last1=Hendricks |first1=Ashraf |last2=Stent |first2=James |last3=Geffen |first3=Nathan |title=In photos: the grim aftermath of Cape Town's fire |url=https://www.groundup.org.za/article/photos-cape-town-fire-destroys-exquisite-buildings-and-knowledge/ |access-date=19 April 2021 |agency=GroundUp |ref=GroundUp-19April}} One of the damaged sections was the Plant Conservation Unit, which studies fossil pollen and compared historical photos of sites with the sites in the present day. Their photos are thought to have been digitized, and the sediment cores they were taken from were housed in a different area, but the fossil pollen lab itself was likely destroyed.{{Cite journal|last=Nordling|first=Linda|date=2021-04-19|title='The damage is total': fire rips through historic South African library and plant collection|journal=Nature|volume=592 |issue=7856 |page=672 |language=en|doi=10.1038/d41586-021-01045-4|pmid=33879878 |bibcode=2021Natur.592..672N |doi-access=free}}
The fire also caused substantial damage to Cadbol House and La Grotta (administrative buildings) and to the Upper Campus student residences Smuts Hall and Fuller Hall. A number of other buildings suffered minor damage.{{cite press release |first=Mamokgethi |last=Phakeng |date=29 April 2021 |title=Update on #UCTFire damage |url=https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-04-29-update-on-uctfire-damage |location=Cape Town |publisher=University of Cape Town |access-date=2021-05-07}}
= Mostert'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
All academic activities at UCT were suspended for two days following the fire, with some student residences closed and students unable to return to their residences.{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Helen |title=Students evacuate Cape Town university as fire damages historic buildings |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/19/cape-town-fire-table-mountain-evacuate-university-jagger-library |access-date=19 April 2021 |agency=The Guardian}}{{cite news |last1=Phakeng |first1=Mamokgethi |title=Fire affecting the Rondebosch campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT) |url=https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-04-18-fire-affecting-the-rondebosch-campus-of-the-university-of-cape-town-uct |access-date=18 April 2021 |agency=UCT News}}{{cite news |last1=Qukula |first1=Qama |title='UCT students could return to res - except Smuts and Fuller - within 72 hours' |url=https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/414215/uct-students-could-return-to-res-excluding-smuts-and-fuller-within-72-hours-says-vc-prof-phakeng |access-date=19 April 2021 |agency=CapeTalk}} Most students were able to return to Smuts and Fuller Halls on {{dts|2021.05.07|format=dm}}.{{Cite tweet |author=University of Cape Town |user=UCT_news |number=1390587595462258691 |title=UCT is excited to welcome back students from Fuller & Smuts this morning following the recent fires that affected the residences. The university has been hard at work to prepare the residences for the safe return of most of the students. |date=7 May 2021 |access-date=2021-05-07}} As of 2023, a substantial programme is still ongoing to rescue and restore items damaged in the Jagger Library, and to restore the library itself.{{cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/community-newspaper/peoples-post/salvage-of-fire-damaged-special-collections-at-jagger-library-continues-two-years-after-uct-blaze-20230419|title=Salvage of fire-damaged Special Collections at Jagger Library continues two years after UCT blaze|first=Nettalie|last=Viljoen|date=18 April 2023|publisher=People's Post}}
Mostert's Mill was repaired by the Friends of Mostert's Mill, a non-profit organisation; by March 2023, it was reported that the mill had been almost completely restored.{{cite web |last1=Steyn |first1=Daniel |title=Mostert se Meul herrys uit die as |url=https://maroelamedia.co.za/nuus/sa-nuus/mostert-se-meul-herrys-uit-die-as/ |website=Maroela Media |date=9 March 2023 |access-date=9 March 2023}} The Rhodes Memorial restaurant remained closed two years after the fire.{{cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/community-newspaper/peoples-post/exclusive-delay-in-restoration-of-burnt-down-rhodes-memorial-restaurant-and-tea-room-a-tender-point-20230418|first=Nettalie|last=Viljoen|title=Delay in restoration of burnt-down Rhodes Memorial restaurant and tea room a tender point|date=18 April 2023|publisher=People's Post}}
= Investigation =
On {{dts|2021.04.18|format=dm}} at 20:10 SAST, a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze{{Cite web|last=McCain|first=Nicole|title=Man arrested as City of Cape Town investigates arson in Table Mountain blaze|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/man-arrested-as-city-of-cape-town-investigates-arson-in-table-mountain-blaze-20210419|access-date=2021-04-19|website=News24|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|title='Out of control' fire breaks out on Table Mountain|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-56792532|access-date=2021-04-19}} but later released due to a lack of evidence.{{Cite web|last=Isaacs|first=Lauren|title=NPA says man accused of starting Cape fire cannot be linked to arson|url=https://ewn.co.za/2021/04/28/npa-says-man-accused-of-starting-cape-fire-cannot-be-linked-to-arson|access-date=2022-01-05|website=ewn.co.za|language=en}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Jordan|first=Bobby|date=24 June 2021|title=Object thrown from car started UCT fire, investigation concludes|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-06-24-object-thrown-from-car-started-uct-fire-investigation-concludes/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-05|website=TimesLIVE|language=en-ZA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624095905/https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-06-24-object-thrown-from-car-started-uct-fire-investigation-concludes/ |archive-date=24 June 2021 }}
See also
References
{{Reflist|refs=
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{{2021 wildfires}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Table Mountain fire, 2021}}
Category:April 2021 in South Africa