Cape Town fire burned historic university library

A forest fire on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town spread to the University of Cape Town, burning the historic campus library and forced the students to evacuate on Sunday.

Orange flames lit up the windows of the library houses archives and collections of precious books while firefighters sprayed water jets to extinguish the fire. Helicopters also threw water on the building.

Other campus buildings also caught fire, and a nearby historic windmill burned down.

At least two floors of the Jagger Library were set on fireaccording to local reports, as hundreds of students left their residences on foot, using the main road to escape the blaze and take refuge, journalists observed.

Right next to the campus, on the slopes of Mountain table, the wind spread the flames through the dry brush. The fire partially destroyed restaurant next to a memorial to British settler Cecil Rhodes.

More than 100 firefighters and emergency personnel were dispatched to the university campus and to the Table Mountain National Park. Have been used four helicopters to drop water in threatened areas, the authorities said.

The national park of Mountain table, which covers much of the city’s undeveloped areas, appealed in the morning, especially on social media, for hikers to immediately evacuate the area and for anyone with cars parked nearby to take them from the other side.

A firefighter was injured and was being treated at a hospital, according to the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service.

Residents have been warned to be on alert, Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the city’s Disaster Risk Management Center, said in a statement.

“At this point there is no reason to evacuate, but we ask residents to comply with the following: close all windows to avoid drafts and reduce heat, moisten your garden with a hose or sprinkler system, ”said Powell.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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