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Fire in Cape Town - 21 April 2021

A wildfire has broken out on Table Mountain in South Africa’s capital, Cape Town. It has set light to the historic university library, which is full of valuable books and documents.

Dan Plato, Mayor of Cape Town, is concerned about the library.

Dan Plato: "On campus is more than ten fire vehicles currently. We have three buildings currently burning sporadically and, but this one is a major problem for us. It’s the library with lots and lots of old ancient valuables in the library."

Luckily, the library had automatic water sprayers. This stopped the fire. But it was very windy and the fire moved to student dormitories. The students had to run away from the fire.

The fire also damaged private homes in Cape Town. Sadly, it burnt this historic windmill too.

The fire service was called at 9 am on Sunday. Over 200 firefighters and four helicopters went to the mountain to try to control the fire. A few firefighters have been injured.

Table Mountain is in Cape Town’s National Park, a popular area for hiking. Police used social media to warn hikers about the fire. They told them to move away from the mountain.

People don’t know how the fire started. Some people think a homeless person made a fire to keep warm.

The Mayor of Cape Town is hoping for more information soon.

Dan Plato: "Me, I think, during the night, early tomorrow morning, we will be in a much better position to say where and how the fire have started."