Table Mountain wildfire may have started as ‘malicious act’
THE wildfire that destroyed a number of UCT's historic buildings, neighbouring properties and some 600 hectares of land within the Table Mountain National Park, was not started by homeless persons as initially alleged.
This is according to South African National Parks (SANParks) following an investigation into the cause of the April fire. A homeless man was arrested for involvement in one of the fires that evening. During a media briefing yesterday, SANParks said the cost of damage caused by the fire was about R1.3 million
SANParks chief executive Dr Luthando Dziba said the investigation provided evidence suggesting that the fire may have been started as a malicious act, and has ruled out natural causes such as rock falls or lightning strikes or an accidental incident of negligence, such as an abandoned camping cooking fire.
“This evidence was being investigated by law enforcement agencies.
“Extensive damage occurred to the Rhodes Memorial restaurant, UCT and the historic Mostert's Mill and various private properties as a result of windblown smouldering embers landing in and on dry combustible materials such as thatch, exotic pines, palm trees, ivy and leaves in gutters.
“The fire, according to CCTV footage and witnesses, started at about 8.40am under extreme weather conditions such as very warm temperatures (26°C) and low relative humidity (19%),” said Dziba.
He said the situation could have been much worse if the strategic relationship between SANParks and various stakeholders including the City was not in place, as this provided for a well organised effort in suppressing the fire from the ground – and air support within reasonably good time.
“Within a few hours the temperature had increased to 34°C and the relative humidity had decreased to 13%, with a prevailing north-westerly breeze of approximately 12km/h.
“These conditions in addition to dry vegetation presented an ideal environment for the rapid spread of the fire due to the high fire danger index. In turn, the increase in wind speed and a change in the wind direction caused embers to land outside of the burn area, where they ignited the surrounding veld,” he said.
The SANParks report notes that the three separate fires reported in proximity to each other on Sunday evening were approximately 2km to the west of where the morning's main fire had originated. The three fires were extinguished and did not contribute to the spread or loss suffered as a result of the morning fire.
Local government MEC Anton Bredell said he has noted reports relating to the possible cause of the devastating wildfire.
“We have not seen the investigation reports and we await the finalisation of the investigation before we can provide full comment, beyond pointing out that it would be most distressing if indeed the fire was caused intentionally. Wildfires are life threatening, cause huge damage and require large amounts of resources to combat, resources the local government can ill afford at the moment.”
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said that the investigation into the fire was still under way with no new developments to report at this stage.