Residents Evacuated As Firefighters Battle Table Mountain Blaze

A blaze advanced along South Africa's iconic Table Mountain toward central Cape Town on Monday after ravaging university buildings, while firefighters battled strong winds in their efforts to control it and officials evacuated residential areas

Cape Town, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Apr, 2021 ) :A blaze advanced along South Africa's iconic Table Mountain toward central Cape Town on Monday after ravaging university buildings, while firefighters battled strong winds in their efforts to control it and officials evacuated residential areas.

The fire broke out Sunday morning in the foothills of the mountain and spread to the University of Cape Town (UCT), destroying buildings and part of a library housing a unique collection of African archives, while causing students to flee.

The blaze had been largely contained on Monday, but firefighters were still battling to control it.

Cape Town mayor Dan Plato said efforts were currently focused on the mountain above the Vredehoek suburb, with residents being evacuated "as a precautionary measure".

"Strong winds are placing pressure on firefighting staff as it shifts the direction of the fire," Plato told reporters.

Aerial firefighting support has been forced to remain aground due to the wind.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, with one suspect taken into custody overnight, city official safety chief JP Smith said.

Flames have already destroyed the Rhodes Memorial Restaurant, private homes and historical structures such as the 18th century Mostert's Hill windmill.

"It is not only the historic buildings themselves that have been lost, but their contents and collections," said the Cape Town Heritage trust in a statement written from an office "enveloped in a pall of smoke".

At least three UCT buildings have suffered major damage, including the African studies section of the library -- named after South African businessman and benefactor John William Jagger -- and its parquet-floored reading room.

"Some of our valuable collections have been lost," wrote the head of UCT libraries Ujala Satgoor in a Facebook post, adding that a full assessment of the damage had yet to be carried out.

Photos accompanying the post showed flames and smoke billowing from the roof and windows of the 1930s column-lined building.

No casualties have been reported so far apart from four firefighters who have been injured.