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LIVE | Table Mountain fire contained

4 years ago
4 years ago

Get the latest updates, as Western Cape fire crews remain on highlight, with fears of possible flare-ups of the devastating wildfire growing on Table Mountain.

The fire started on Sunday. Thousands of people had to flee their homes, as it spread rapidly.

18.46: The fire is contained not extinguished. Weather conditions, however, are in favour of our firefighters.

17.58pm: According to Table Mountain National Park, the fire has been contained.

 

16:31: SANParks fire chief, Philip Prins says: “We have managed to contain the fire at 13:00 but it’s still too early to say. Our firefighters are still monitoring the situation and they will be monitoring it throughout the night. Anything can happen at this point. The fire is not extinguished, it’s contained.”

16:05: The SPCA needs support. Please see details below.

15.28: Children from Alon Ashel Play School thank our firefighters with adorable pictures.

A picture is worth 1000 words!

Kids from Alon Ashel Play School saying thank you to #ctfirelegends this morning.

Picture: Sea Point Cid

Posted by JWI.News on Tuesday, April 20, 2021

15:13: The City of Cape Town says residents who had been evacuated because of the mountain fires could now return to their homes.

This comes as fire firefighting efforts have entered a third day on the slopes of Table Mountain.

The blaze has turned hundreds of hectares of forest and veld into ash.

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14: 48: Meet the Juliet Crew: Cape Town’s all-female firefighting squad

There’s nothing that women can’t do, including fight fires. Meet the Juliet Crew, Cape Town’s first all-female firefighting team. They’ve been instrumental in battling the blaze taking place along the slopes of Table Mountain. Get to know these boss ladies here.

READ MORE HERE

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14:09: The wildfire that broke out on the slopes on Table Mountain on Sunday damaged or destroyed at least 11 structures, according to Times Live.

These include two houses in the Rosebank area, six education buildings on the University of Cape Town campus, heritage buildings including the Mostert’s Mill and UCT’s Jagger Library, and the restaurant at Rhodes Memorial.

Six firefighters sustained injuries in the line of duty and nine members of the public were taken to hospital with breathing challenges after smoke inhalation, the report says, quoting the minister of local government, environmental affairs and development planning in the Western Cape.

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13:37: Pick N Pay offers free delivery of supplies for UCT students and firefighters

Retailer mobilises staff to provide thousands of meals, enables stores and online service for those wanting to support students and firefighters

 Pick n Pay has mobilised its store and online network to support the thousands of UCT students who had to evacuate the campus yesterday – and the brave firefighters working tirelessly to put out the Cape Town fire that continues to rage on the Table Mountain National Park.

 Pick n Pay stores were mobilised early yesterday and have been delivering essential supplies – such as water, eye drops and sunscreen – and food supplies to firefighters. Pick n Pay has been cooking meals and delivering them, along with drinks and toiletries, to UCT students since yesterday.

 “The support we’ve received – and requests from customers on how they can help or donate has been overwhelming. We have set up various ways customers can easily donate or support fire relief efforts,” says Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, transformation director at Pick n Pay.

 Customers wanting to donate to the firefighters can place a free delivery on Pick n Pay’s on demand delivery app, Bottles, to have essentials delivered to one of four fire stations. In the Bottles by PnP app, customers will see a “Help Cape Town Firefighters” option in the menu and can follow the prompts to shop for essentials they need. 

 To provide support for UCT students, online shoppers can place a free delivery on Pick n Pay’s online shop: www.pnp.co.za/cape-town-fire-relief. The website includes a list of relief items needed.

13: 31: The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) student representative council (SRC) has pleaded with the public to make donations for students who were evacuated due to massive fire that destroyed buildings at the institution on Sunday.

“Many have barely received enough food,” the SRC said.

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13:12: Alleged Table Mountain arsonist appears in court

A 35-year-old man accused of starting a fire on the slopes of Table Mountain has appeared in court on Tuesday.

Frederick Mhangazo was arrested on Sunday and was accused of starting a new fire during the existing blaze.

READ MORE HERE 

12:23: The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre has coordinated joint damage assessments in order to initiate repairs to the roadways and other City infrastructure damaged by the Rhodes Memorial fire,  reports News24.

Solid Management has been activated to clear the fire debris.

The Electricity Department has advised that no major damage has occurred to the medium voltage infrastructure. However, the overhead lines to affected buildings have been damaged.

12:07: Cape Town fire series: before and after 

The Cape Town fires’ unforgiving flames crusaded from the mountain onward, and dressed some of the city’s landmarks in burnt chaos.

The following images truly look like something out of a post-apocalyptic film.

CLICK HERE

12:03: The blame game has started: Parkscape lashes out at SANParks 

Nicky Schmidt of the community-environmental NPO Parkscape says the organisation is devastated by the catastrophic fires that raged across Devil’s Peak on Sunday 18 April and which have subsequently spread across the area above Vredehoek.

READ MORE HERE

12:00: ‘I started the fire’ – arson suspect arrested 

A Devil’s Peak resident helped capture a man restarting fires on Table Mountain. While in custody, the arsonist claimed to be the person responsible for starting the fire.

READ MORE HERE

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10:26: SANParks says the weather seems good today (Tuesday) for the aerial support to resume with fire extinguishing operations.

10:18: The University of Cape Town says the assessment of the damages and the need to clean residences and academic buildings means that the academic programme at the university will be suspended until Friday, 23 April.

On Wednesday, the Department of Student Affairs (DSA) will start managing the movement of students back to their residences from their emergency accommodation.

The University will resume on Monday, 26 April.

“The academic programme will resume on Monday, 26 April. The faculties will each manage the lost week in terms of the curriculum and will communicate with their students about scheduled tests and assignments,” the University of Cape Town’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said.

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08:50: Working On Fire (WOF) has dispatched helicopters to assist firefighting efforts.

“WOF has dispatched a spotter and three choppers to the De Waal Drive fire currently burning at the Table Mountain Cableway,” said WOF spokesperson Linton Rensbury.

07:42: The City of Cape Town has urged City Bowl residents who have been evacuated not to return to their homes yet, with the area filled with smoke.

“The fire has been largely contained, with firefighting efforts now focused on Deer Park and the Disa Park towers in Vredehoek,’’ the City’s Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement.

“Crews have worked tirelessly and the wind having died down considerably has given them some respite. Fresh crews and seasonal firefighters will be deployed to those hot spot areas at 9am today.’”

07:28: Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says he is pleased that the police have arrested a suspect on a charge of arson in connection with the Table Mountain fires. He says the suspect is due to appear in court soon.

07:21: City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse says:

“Firefighting efforts now focussed on Deer Park and the Disa Park towers in Vredenhoek. Crews have worked tirelessly, and the wind having died down considerably, has given them some respite.”

Fresh crews and seasonal firefighters will be deployed to those hot spot areas at 09:00, according to News24.


07:09: The City of Cape Town Traffic Services spokesperson Maxine Bezuidehout says all road closures still remain in place, as firefighters continue to monitor flare-ups on Table Mountain. The roads affected include Philip Kgosana Drive and Tefelberg Drive.

07:00: Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Patricia de Lille has confirmed that the fire destroyed a minister’s home in Newlands.

“Since Sunday morning, 18 April, we have all watched with horror the very devastating impact of the fires on Table Mountain.

“Unfortunately, we can report that one minister’s Cape Town residence in Newlands (owned by DPWI) was completely destroyed by the fire on Sunday afternoon.

“Thankfully, no one was hurt and no one was in the property at the time,” De Lille said in a statement.

She, however, did not say who the affected minister was.

06:45: The blaze started on Sunday, and as it spread rapidly, thousands of people had to flee their homes.

The fire destroyed several buildings, including a library at the University of Cape Town (UCT), as well as a government minister’s Newland’s home.

It also damaged part of the Rhodes Memorial restaurant and the historic Mostert Mill along the M3. Four firefighters were injured.

06: 37: Reports indicate that the wind has subsided in Cape Town, bringing much-needed respite for exhausted firefighters who’ve been struggling since Sunday to bring a raging fire on Table Mountain’s slopes under control.

06:28: Fire fighters remained on high alert on Monday evening, as fears of possible flare-ups of the devastating wildfire grew.

“We would like to clarify that the fire is contained, but we are not out of the woods yet. We are dealing with severe winds that could ignite the flames. That’s why our crews must stand by for anything,” The Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) fire manager Philip Prins said on Monday night.

He said that some of the vegetation fire had been extinguished. The roots of the vegetation, however, still remained a high risk, as it could ignite and cause flare-ups.

“It will take some time. We are hoping to extinguish the fire by the end of the week,” said Prins.

Picture: Twitter

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