Social media users shared videos and images of the Cape Town fire as the flames reached the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus on Sunday afternoon.
The fire appeared to break out near Rhodes Memorial on Sunday, 18 April. According to the City of Cape Town, fire services were alerted at 8.45am.
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At about 8.45am the City's Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to a vegetation fire above Philip Kgosana Drive.
Fire crews were immediately dispatched to the scene, with the fire currently spreading from Rhodes Memorial toward UCT. #CTNews pic.twitter.com/vUOQJVFZbn
— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) April 18, 2021
Part of the restaurant and tea room at the Rhodes Memorial was destroyed by the blaze.
By the afternoon, the flames had reached the UCT campus. UCT evacuated students as the fire drew closer.
PLEASE NOTE: All UCT students have been evacuated from campus by emergency services support staff. We have taken them to pre-determined locations. We will continue to work with & support Sanparks & the City of Cape Town to extinguish this fire. Please stay safe first & foremost.
— UCT (@UCT_news) April 18, 2021
Emergency services attempted to put out the fire, however it continued to spread.
Residents near the fire have been advised to close their windows and doors to prevent draft. They have also been urged to damp down their gardens using a hose.
News reports said that the fire had reached some residential areas at the time of writing.
Locals share videos of Cape Town fire at UCT
Twitter users shared videos and images of the flames and smoke engulfing areas around the mountain, including the UCT campus.
The hashtag #CapeTownFire became the top trend on Twitter as a result on Sunday afternoon.
The videos showed people evacuating, smoke in the area, and flames on the UCT campus and surrounding areas.
You can see some of the videos below:
A raging wildfire on the slopes of Table mountain still remains out of control. Sections of the M3 has been closed to traffic. Sanparks has urged all hikers within the Newlands and Rhodes Memorial areas to evacuate the mountain with immediate effect. #capetownfire
: Supplied pic.twitter.com/RnOoXa5l0m — Voice of the Cape (@VOCfm) April 18, 2021
Madness #capetownfire pic.twitter.com/wOVWDYUfGj
— Robyn Silverstone (@RobsSilverstone) April 18, 2021
Oh no! UCT
#CapeTownFire pic.twitter.com/XlBSaEYS9N — Ricardo Mackenzie (@ricardomackenzi) April 18, 2021
People leaving UCT! Please be prepared to provide support where you can Cape Town via appropriate authorities like @CityofCT
People will need help! #CapeTownFire pic.twitter.com/IcU1ldkBEL
— Ricardo Mackenzie (@ricardomackenzi) April 18, 2021
#capetownfire Evacuation UCT students… our thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters, students and all residents in the area. pic.twitter.com/q8FYxDPoHA
— South Africa People – SAPeople.com (@sapeople) April 18, 2021
Feature image: Guido Jansen/Unsplash
