Fire Management and Burning

[Richprins]

[Lisbeth]

Apocalyptic fire reaps day of unforgiving destruction in Mother City

By Tiara Walters• 19 April 2021


Plumes of smoke rise from a fire sweeping over Philip Kgosana Drive towards Rhodes Memorial and the University of Cape Town early on April 18. The blaze destroyed parts of Rhodes Memorial and UCT. (Photo: Misha Jordaan / Gallo Images)

Capetonians grieve the loss of priceless heritage treasures as fire rips across Table Mountain and the University of Cape Town campus.

Additional reporting by Victoria O’Regan

Efforts to contain the out-of-control wildfire that erupted on Table Mountain on Sunday morning at around 8.45 continued throughout the night.

The unforgiving inferno – suspected by Table Mountain National Park to have been ignited by an unattended vagrant fire – burnt down a restaurant at Rhodes Memorial and damaged multiple buildings at the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus, including the 200-year-old Jagger Library.



NCC Wildfires, the firefighting services contracted to South African National Parks (SANParks), reported that the wildfire had started above Philip Kgosana Drive in the game camp area between UCT and the busy Hospital Bend junction near Groote Schuur Hospital.

Tearing up the mountain’s slopes towards Rhodes Memorial, it destroyed the iconic memorial restaurant, and then headed towards UCT’s upper campus where boarding students were evacuated to emergency accommodation.

Huge plumes of smoke blanketed parts of the southern suburbs and drifted into the Cape Town City Bowl.

Plumes of smoke over Philip Kgosana Drive towards Rhodes Memorial and UCT. (Photo: Misha Jordaan / Gallo Images)
Firefighters prepare to battle a blaze that destroyed the nearly 200-year-old Jagger Library on the University of Cape Town campus on 18 April 2021. (Photo: EPA-EFE / NIC BOTHMA)
From about 11.30am, an orange haze smothered parts of Rondebosch, Mowbray and Newlands, car headlights cutting through the gloom. Ash rained down from the sky, only to be whipped back into the air by strong gusts of wind.

Cars, heaving with bird cages, small pieces of furniture and suitcases, idled in congested traffic as residents fled their homes. Students, holding belongings, clustered on pavements in Rondebosch and Mowbray.



Anton Bredell, Western Cape minister of local government, environmental affairs and development planning, said provincial disaster management was monitoring the ongoing blaze.

“Four helicopters continue to water-bomb the fire lines and teams from the City of Cape Town, Working on Fire and SANParks” were working “non-stop to bring the fire under control”, he said.

Between 150 and 200 firefighters were on the fire line. Later, an additional firefighter was injured and taken to hospital.

Bredell said the fire had jumped the M3 motorway earlier that afternoon, damaging infrastructure – including private homes and the irreplaceable 1796 Mostert’s Mill, the country’s oldest working windmill.

“Full damage reports remained a work in progress”, while active firefighting efforts were being prioritised.

“The public is urged to avoid the area and allow the authorities to do their work. The city has not called on any residents to evacuate,” Bredell said. “The public will be alerted immediately should the situation change and any evacuation be needed.”


Damage along the Rhodes Memorial road, as captured by Rob Erasmus of Enviro Wildfire Services, on 18 April 2021. Erasmus is Table Mountain National Park’s independent fire investigator. (Photo: Rob Erasmus / Enviro Wildfire Services)

The human element aside, natural fynbos blazes should ideally ignite, on average, every 15 years or so as a result of dry, hot, windy conditions interacting with mature, indigenous vegetation.

However, Table Mountain National Park noted that an “initial investigation” into the Rhodes Memorial fire had been done, and this “surmised that the origin of the fire is from a vacated vagrant fire”.

Several factors contributed to the fire’s rapid spread towards Rhodes Memorial, the park noted: blistering temperatures of up to 36°C conspired with an extreme fire-danger index that tipped into the red zone.

Extremely low relative humidity exacerbated the situation.

“The fire created its own wind that further increased the rate of spread,” the park said. “The excessive amount of smoke and related updrafts made it impossible for the aerial support to slow the rate of spread.”

The park conceded that “one of the major contributors to the rapid rate of spread was the very old pine trees and their debris”.

Alien vegetation is both a fire and an ecological risk. UCT flora expert Tony Verboom, an associate professor, told Daily Maverick in December that human-caused fires exaggerated this weedy effect “by upsetting the natural competitive hierarchies and generating gaps that provide invasive weeds with an entry point”.

Daily Maverick has reported on multiple vagrant-caused fires on Table Mountain in recent summer seasons – far more than the park’s natural carrying capacity has evolved to withstand.

Thick bushes, watercourses and public drinking points on the mountain’s lower slopes tend to be a haven for illegal campers, driven into such spaces by poverty, homelessness and hunger. Shallow, overhanging caves, set a considerable distance from the urban edge, tend to attract church groups carrying out fire ceremonies.


A faint orb of sun peers through smoke over the Rhodes Memorial road. (Photo: Rob Erasmus / Enviro Wildfire Services)


Alien pine trees loom in the smoke scape along the Rhodes Memorial road. (Photo: Rob Erasmus / Enviro Wildfire Services)

Fanned by a raging southeaster, Deer Park’s “Halloween fire” on 31 October was also traced to illegal campfires. To contain the inferno, which singed 50 hectares on the mountain’s frontal slopes, it would take 16 fire trucks heaving with up to 6,000 litres of water per tank, plus crews from across the firefighting spectrum: city, park and volunteer corps.

As for the previous summer season over 2019/20, there were 108 fires in the park, according to fire-investigation data seen by Daily Maverick.

The majority of these blazes – nearly 60% – were associated with fires kindled for cooking, heating and socialising. In a few cases, arson looked to be the cause. Additionally, the red wedge of the pie chart attributed 32% to “malicious” origins; some 9% were sparked by “negligence”. Much of it started over summer weekends on the front of Table Mountain as well as adjacent Lion’s Head and Signal Hill; crews contained close on 90% of fires within 90 minutes.

“A lot of vagrants come in during the night, or late in the afternoon,” explained Philip Prins, fire manager for Table Mountain National Park. “They move from the city into the park and, early the following morning, they move from the park back towards the city, and so it continues.”

Meanwhile, all academic activities at UCT were suspended for Monday and Tuesday.

“We will assess the situation and provide further updates before midday on Tuesday,” UCT Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng said on Sunday evening. “The safety of students and staff is paramount. For safety reasons, campus will be locked down and no one, other than emergency services, will be allowed access. We are all anxious about the extent of the damage to the Rondebosch campus. We will provide updates as soon as we are able to do so.”

As the damage is assessed in coming days, the emotional impact for many will linger.

Kylie Hatton, UCT communication and marketing director, told Daily Maverick: “It is devastating watching buildings that are my friends going up in flames.” DM/OBP

[Lisbeth]

It is tragic!

Judging from the pictures there seem to be too few and too small hoses and too little pressure. All in all, it looks rather old fashioned

[Richprins]

Cape Town fires: Suspect being questioned as city probes arson link
By BELINDA PHETO - 19 April 2021 - 09:53


A suspect was taken into custody on Sunday night as the City of Cape Town investigates reports about the original blaze being due to arson and of additional fires being started.

This was disclosed on Monday by mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith.

“There is a lot of speculation about additional fires that were started, and whether the original fire was an act of arson. This will form part of investigations, but the city can confirm one suspect in his 30s was taken into custody last night in the vicinity of Devil’s Peak”

He said the suspect “was spotted by a resident who tracked him down with the help of his sons and the family’s dogs. The matter is with the police for investigation and further details will follow as they become available.”

Table Mountain National Park said initial investigations showed a fire suspected to have been left unattended by a vagrant is believed to have been the cause of the original blaze.

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/sout ... rson-link/

[Lisbeth]

It did cross my mind of course

.......was spotted by a resident who tracked him down with the help of his sons and the family’s dogs.....

Maybe I am being unfair and asking too much, but in a case like this, should the mountain not be swarming with police looking for anybody who could have been involved in starting the fire?

[Mel]

'SANParks and City have paid scant attention to dire risk of mountain dwellers'

19 April 2021 2:34 PM by Qama Qukula

Social development activist Lorenzo Davids says more than 100 homeless people have taken refuge on the slopes of Table Mountain.
Davids, who's the former CEO of the Community Chest, says mountain dwellers have long been neglected by Cape Town authorities.

Police are investigating the causes of the multiple fires along Table Mountain amid suspicion that a homeless person may have been responsible for at least one.

RELATED: Forensic expert David Klatzow not convinced vagrant behind Table Mountain blaze

Davids says homeless people have been forced to live on the mountain because the City of Cape Town fails to provide adequate housing and shelter for its most vulnerable citizens.

"It poses a real risk. It's a safety risk, it's a health risk, and as we've seen now, it has the potential to be a very significant fire risk for the City", he tells CapeTalk.

Meanwhile, CapeTalk host Lester Kiewit has warned against scapegoating homeless people.

People who started this fire must be held liable and responsible and they must be prosecuted under the law.
Lorenzo Davids, CEO - Development Impact Consulting

The challenge is that we have over 100 people who are without housing who use the mountain for habitation. It's been a fact for decades.
Lorenzo Davids, CEO - Development Impact Consulting

SANParks and the City and others have often paid scant attention to the dire risk that that living faces on the mountain.
Lorenzo Davids, CEO - Development Impact Consulting

There aren't sufficient [shelter] beds within the city.
Lorenzo Davids, CEO - Development Impact Consulting

The City doesn't have enough housing for its vulnerable people, and that must be addressed. Otherwise, we are going to have this disaster repeating itself several times over.
Lorenzo Davids, CEO - Development Impact Consulting

[Lisbeth]

It's been a fact for decades.

The homeless is a growing problem also in developed countries in Europe and even more so in the US not to talk about South America, India and many more countries all over the world

[Richprins]

But the fires are started on purpose.

[Lisbeth]

Why? Because the homeless are angry with the whole world and want revenge because of their situation

[Richprins]

Or for political reasons, or because they love fire.