Four firefighters have been injured while battling a blaze on the slopes of Table Mountain.
The flames have gutted several structures, including part of the Rhodes Memorial restaurant and a library at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
More than 200 firefighters have been battling the inferno.
Fire and rescue services’ Jermaine Carelse: “An additional member from the volunteer service was also injured and was taken to hospital, so we’re currently standing at four firefighters – two from the city and two from the volunteer firefighting service.”
It prompted a mass evacuation of the UCT campus.
Carelse said that more evacuations had been ordered.
“There’s a call that went out earlier for the residents from Pepper Street to evacuate.”
The blaze first started in the vicinity of Philip Kgosana Drive.
Strong winds then fueled the flames, spreading them rapidly.
And just as firefighters managed to contain the UCT blaze, resources had to be diverted to another fire on Devil’s Peak.
The Table Mountain National Park believed that the fire was deliberately set.
The park’s fire manager, Philip Prins, said that it could not have been an extension of the first fire.
“It was too far away, it was dead quiet and there was no wind and there was no squatting or anything like that, so this was definitely a new fire and it was definitely started deliberately.”
-EWN
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