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Table Mountain on fire – an eyewitness accountMar 18, 2009

by Aslam Levy

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Photo courtesy Chris Cloete

9:30pm: I was driving back home with my girlfriend from somerset west on the N2 towards Rondebosch last night when I first saw the sparkly flicker of the fire that would, by the early hours of the morning, go on a devouring rampage of Devil’s Peak.

Our first thought was that it seemed very close to Rhodes Memorial and that it would be heart-breaking to see this Cape Town landmark devastated.

At that point, though, we never expected the fire to grow into the menace it would become.

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Photo courtesy Mikko Kapanen

12:30am: I went for a drive out and saw the fire slithering up the side of the mountain, followed by great plumes of thick, white smoke.

The flames tinged the clouds with deep oranges and crimson reds.

I stood in awe, not knowing whether what I saw was beautiful or a horrible devastation.

I guess it was a combination of the two.

7:45am: As I stood on the train into work I looked out and saw the dying puffs of smoke that ran all the way up to the highest peak.

Mumblings in the train of people who evacuated to families living away from the city made the morning post-apocalyptic, as though a massive bombshell had hit the city.

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Photo courtesy Warren Rohner

10:15am: Standing on the balcony at work in the Cape Town CBD … there is the unmistakable smell of fire in the air, the ash on the ground bears evidence of the reach of the fire.

For some it’s just a mountain. But for the Capetonian it’s not that simple – the mountain is one of us, part of the family, and when she is in pain we feel it too.

Aslam Levy is an eMarketing Coordinator at Cape Town Tourism, you can view his personal blog here.

Comments

This is scary! Well done to the fire department and Table Mountain National Park for bringing the fire under control!

We must all become more careful, particular during summer. Our mountain is our heritage so please report any irresponsible behaviour i.e. it is illegal to throw out cigarette butts from your car, make fires on the Mountain etc.

By Mariette du Toit-Helmbold on 18/03/2009 | #

The photos are awesome !
:( Its devastating though and every year the same problem of these huge fires !
I live around the corner of the mountain so to say yet terraces and even the floor in my lounge near the front door were covered in soot and bits of wood Last night at midnight the stadium looked like a ghost ship but at the time I had no idea what caused it to look like that wish I had taken a shot…
There is a huge black stretch of land all the way from the University to the tampons or whatever you call those 3 high buildings in the top photo :)

By FromJoanne on 18/03/2009 | #

I went up to Rhodes Memorial today, where the emergency crews were, and got a number of close ups of the action.  I also managed to get some panoramas of the fire last night and this morning from my roof.

From today: http://tinyurl.com/cptfire
The original post: http://tinyurl.com/dhqj5a

Cheers, Shaun.

By Shaun on 19/03/2009 | #

I live in Chelmsford Road, directly opposite one of the Disa Park towers and it was a frightening experience. Standing outside on the pavement, my throat burned from the acrid smoke and I was horrified to see small burning embers floating down around us.

The firefighters did an incredible job and I cannot praise them enough.

By Odette on 19/03/2009 | #

I was just lookin gup “fires” on Google and came upon this blog. We had the most horrifica incident last night in Table View, 03/11/09 at ± 22h00. My kids and I were coming back from family and noticed a huge fire. We initially thought it was the Flamingo Vlei garage, but as we got closer we realised it was a house in a complex on the other side of the road. Within literally half an hour, I’d say, the house seemed to have burned down, just gone, with only the shell still standing. The Fire Brigade were awesome, thanks guys, but of the two fire hydraunts they had access to, the one was closed down, i.e. not even there anymore but closed in with sand, and the other, just a few meters away, was BROKEN! What are we paying our rates and taxes for? Fortunately they didn’t have to use the water from the hydraunts as they managed to get the fire under control, but it leaves one to wonder about our councils! As for the poor owners/residents of the house ... my deepest utmost sympathy to you for your most tragic loss! I cannot imagine coming home to nothing. It’s just beyond my thought patterns! You guys are in our thoughts and prayers and we will do our utmost to try and contact you and offer our assitance in any way we can.

By Linda on 04/11/2009 | #

Lived in Disa Park from 1976 to 1981. Was told to pack up and leave once cos of hugh fires. Almost set fire to the mountain once playing with friends and matches. Anyone live there at that time?

By Vassi on 19/01/2010 | #

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