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South African Tragedy


Luv2play
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/world/africa/cape-town-table-mountain-fire.html?action=click&module=In Other News&pgtype=Homepage

 

As an historian myself, I feel for the people of South Africa and the southern African region for the loss of so much precious history.

 

Apparently, they had just started digitizing their collection of books and films. Now so much has been lost forever.

 

I am looking around my kitchen as I type this and my walls are covered by African artifacts, priceless to me. I can't imagine the size of the loss occasioned by this massive fire in Cape Town.

Edited by Luv2play
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/world/africa/cape-town-table-mountain-fire.html?action=click&module=In Other News&pgtype=Homepage

 

As an historian myself, I feel for the people of South Africa and the southern African region for the loss of so much precious history.

 

Apparently, they had just started digitizing their collection of books and films. Now so much has been lost forever.

 

I am looking around my kitchen as I type this and my walls are covered by African artifacts, priceless to me. I can't imagine the size of the loss occasioned by this massive fire in Cape Town.

 

For those of us who don't have a subscription... can you copy and post the article?

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The link works fine, but as Marylander noted, the text of the article is only available to be read by subscribers. So other than the headline, non-subscribers cannot access the article.

Oh, I didn't know that was the case. Sorry about that.

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From nytimes.com:

 

By Christina Goldbaum and Kimon de Greef

April 19, 2021Updated 3:26 p.m. ET

JOHANNESBURG — Firefighters in Cape Town battled a wildfire on Monday that had engulfed the slopes of the city’s famed Table Mountain and destroyed parts of the University of Cape Town’s library, a devastating blow to the world’s archives of Southern African history.

Helicopters dumped water on the area to try to contain the blaze, which began on Sunday and was likely caused by an abandoned fire, according to South African national parks officials. But as wind picked up overnight, the fire spread to neighborhoods in the foothills of the mountain and forced some homes to be evacuated on Monday. Monday evening, officials warned that the blaze would likely rage for days.

“Hopefully we can get containment very soon but to extinguish the fire, in other words to put it out completely, that’s going to take more than a week,” Philip Prins, fire manager for Table Mountain National Park, told reporters on Monday.

The wildfire is the latest in a series of devastating mountain blazes that have swept through the Western Cape province in recent years. But the fallout from this fire was also felt across the region after towers of orange and red flames devoured Cape Town University’s special collections library — home to one of the most expansive collections of first-edition books, films, photographs and other primary sources documenting Southern African history.

 

 

“We are of course devastated about the loss of our special collection in the library, it’s things that we cannot replace. It pains us, it pains us to see what it looks like now in ashes,” Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, said on Monday. “The resources that we had there, the collections that we had in the library were not jut for us but for the continent.”

She added: “It’s a huge loss.”

 

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday night, residents around Table Mountain reported seeing three people lighting small fires along its foothills as the wildfire raged. Soon after, the police arrested one of those people — a man in his 30s — in connection with those fires, according to Jean-Pierre Smith, a city councilman in Cape Town who sits on the mayor’s safety and security committee. It is unclear if the man is connected with the initial blaze, Mr. Smith added.

The wildfire began around 9 a.m. Sunday on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, one of the rugged ridges that form part of the iconic Table Mountain backdrop to Cape Town. Fanned by gusts of wind, the fire engulfed and destroyed a hillside restaurant before moving down to the university campus, which is largely built on the slopes of the mountain.

Several buildings, including a historic mill and the school’s library, were soon on fire, and billows of thick white smoke rolled across the city. So far, there have been no deaths reported, but at least five firefighters have suffered injuries, according to officials.

Around 4,000 students were evacuated from campus residence halls on Sunday, according to Nombuso Shabalala, a university spokeswoman. The university announced on Sunday that it would suspend its operations until at least Tuesday.

 

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday night, residents around Table Mountain reported seeing three people lighting small fires along its foothills as the wildfire raged. Soon after, the police arrested one of those people — a man in his 30s — in connection with those fires, according to Jean-Pierre Smith, a city councilman in Cape Town who sits on the mayor’s safety and security committee. It is unclear if the man is connected with the initial blaze, Mr. Smith added.

The wildfire began around 9 a.m. Sunday on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, one of the rugged ridges that form part of the iconic Table Mountain backdrop to Cape Town. Fanned by gusts of wind, the fire engulfed and destroyed a hillside restaurant before moving down to the university campus, which is largely built on the slopes of the mountain.

Several buildings, including a historic mill and the school’s library, were soon on fire, and billows of thick white smoke rolled across the city. So far, there have been no deaths reported, but at least five firefighters have suffered injuries, according to officials.

Around 4,000 students were evacuated from campus residence halls on Sunday, according to Nombuso Shabalala, a university spokeswoman. The university announced on Sunday that it would suspend its operations until at least Tuesday.

 

etc. It's a pretty long article

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From nytimes.com:

 

By Christina Goldbaum and Kimon de Greef

April 19, 2021Updated 3:26 p.m. ET

JOHANNESBURG — Firefighters in Cape Town battled a wildfire on Monday that had engulfed the slopes of the city’s famed Table Mountain and destroyed parts of the University of Cape Town’s library, a devastating blow to the world’s archives of Southern African history.

Helicopters dumped water on the area to try to contain the blaze, which began on Sunday and was likely caused by an abandoned fire, according to South African national parks officials. But as wind picked up overnight, the fire spread to neighborhoods in the foothills of the mountain and forced some homes to be evacuated on Monday. Monday evening, officials warned that the blaze would likely rage for days.

“Hopefully we can get containment very soon but to extinguish the fire, in other words to put it out completely, that’s going to take more than a week,” Philip Prins, fire manager for Table Mountain National Park, told reporters on Monday.

The wildfire is the latest in a series of devastating mountain blazes that have swept through the Western Cape province in recent years. But the fallout from this fire was also felt across the region after towers of orange and red flames devoured Cape Town University’s special collections library — home to one of the most expansive collections of first-edition books, films, photographs and other primary sources documenting Southern African history.

 

 

“We are of course devastated about the loss of our special collection in the library, it’s things that we cannot replace. It pains us, it pains us to see what it looks like now in ashes,” Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, said on Monday. “The resources that we had there, the collections that we had in the library were not jut for us but for the continent.”

She added: “It’s a huge loss.”

 

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday night, residents around Table Mountain reported seeing three people lighting small fires along its foothills as the wildfire raged. Soon after, the police arrested one of those people — a man in his 30s — in connection with those fires, according to Jean-Pierre Smith, a city councilman in Cape Town who sits on the mayor’s safety and security committee. It is unclear if the man is connected with the initial blaze, Mr. Smith added.

The wildfire began around 9 a.m. Sunday on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, one of the rugged ridges that form part of the iconic Table Mountain backdrop to Cape Town. Fanned by gusts of wind, the fire engulfed and destroyed a hillside restaurant before moving down to the university campus, which is largely built on the slopes of the mountain.

Several buildings, including a historic mill and the school’s library, were soon on fire, and billows of thick white smoke rolled across the city. So far, there have been no deaths reported, but at least five firefighters have suffered injuries, according to officials.

Around 4,000 students were evacuated from campus residence halls on Sunday, according to Nombuso Shabalala, a university spokeswoman. The university announced on Sunday that it would suspend its operations until at least Tuesday.

 

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday night, residents around Table Mountain reported seeing three people lighting small fires along its foothills as the wildfire raged. Soon after, the police arrested one of those people — a man in his 30s — in connection with those fires, according to Jean-Pierre Smith, a city councilman in Cape Town who sits on the mayor’s safety and security committee. It is unclear if the man is connected with the initial blaze, Mr. Smith added.

The wildfire began around 9 a.m. Sunday on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, one of the rugged ridges that form part of the iconic Table Mountain backdrop to Cape Town. Fanned by gusts of wind, the fire engulfed and destroyed a hillside restaurant before moving down to the university campus, which is largely built on the slopes of the mountain.

Several buildings, including a historic mill and the school’s library, were soon on fire, and billows of thick white smoke rolled across the city. So far, there have been no deaths reported, but at least five firefighters have suffered injuries, according to officials.

Around 4,000 students were evacuated from campus residence halls on Sunday, according to Nombuso Shabalala, a university spokeswoman. The university announced on Sunday that it would suspend its operations until at least Tuesday.

 

etc. It's a pretty long article

Thanks. I guess I need remedial lessons on copying articles from newspapers.

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From nytimes.com:

 

By Christina Goldbaum and Kimon de Greef

April 19, 2021Updated 3:26 p.m. ET

JOHANNESBURG — Firefighters in Cape Town battled a wildfire on Monday that had engulfed the slopes of the city’s famed Table Mountain and destroyed parts of the University of Cape Town’s library, a devastating blow to the world’s archives of Southern African history.

Helicopters dumped water on the area to try to contain the blaze, which began on Sunday and was likely caused by an abandoned fire, according to South African national parks officials. But as wind picked up overnight, the fire spread to neighborhoods in the foothills of the mountain and forced some homes to be evacuated on Monday. Monday evening, officials warned that the blaze would likely rage for days.

“Hopefully we can get containment very soon but to extinguish the fire, in other words to put it out completely, that’s going to take more than a week,” Philip Prins, fire manager for Table Mountain National Park, told reporters on Monday.

The wildfire is the latest in a series of devastating mountain blazes that have swept through the Western Cape province in recent years. But the fallout from this fire was also felt across the region after towers of orange and red flames devoured Cape Town University’s special collections library — home to one of the most expansive collections of first-edition books, films, photographs and other primary sources documenting Southern African history.

 

 

“We are of course devastated about the loss of our special collection in the library, it’s things that we cannot replace. It pains us, it pains us to see what it looks like now in ashes,” Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, said on Monday. “The resources that we had there, the collections that we had in the library were not jut for us but for the continent.”

She added: “It’s a huge loss.”

 

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday night, residents around Table Mountain reported seeing three people lighting small fires along its foothills as the wildfire raged. Soon after, the police arrested one of those people — a man in his 30s — in connection with those fires, according to Jean-Pierre Smith, a city councilman in Cape Town who sits on the mayor’s safety and security committee. It is unclear if the man is connected with the initial blaze, Mr. Smith added.

The wildfire began around 9 a.m. Sunday on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, one of the rugged ridges that form part of the iconic Table Mountain backdrop to Cape Town. Fanned by gusts of wind, the fire engulfed and destroyed a hillside restaurant before moving down to the university campus, which is largely built on the slopes of the mountain.

Several buildings, including a historic mill and the school’s library, were soon on fire, and billows of thick white smoke rolled across the city. So far, there have been no deaths reported, but at least five firefighters have suffered injuries, according to officials.

Around 4,000 students were evacuated from campus residence halls on Sunday, according to Nombuso Shabalala, a university spokeswoman. The university announced on Sunday that it would suspend its operations until at least Tuesday.

 

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday night, residents around Table Mountain reported seeing three people lighting small fires along its foothills as the wildfire raged. Soon after, the police arrested one of those people — a man in his 30s — in connection with those fires, according to Jean-Pierre Smith, a city councilman in Cape Town who sits on the mayor’s safety and security committee. It is unclear if the man is connected with the initial blaze, Mr. Smith added.

The wildfire began around 9 a.m. Sunday on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, one of the rugged ridges that form part of the iconic Table Mountain backdrop to Cape Town. Fanned by gusts of wind, the fire engulfed and destroyed a hillside restaurant before moving down to the university campus, which is largely built on the slopes of the mountain.

Several buildings, including a historic mill and the school’s library, were soon on fire, and billows of thick white smoke rolled across the city. So far, there have been no deaths reported, but at least five firefighters have suffered injuries, according to officials.

Around 4,000 students were evacuated from campus residence halls on Sunday, according to Nombuso Shabalala, a university spokeswoman. The university announced on Sunday that it would suspend its operations until at least Tuesday.

 

etc. It's a pretty long article

Thanks, @Lucky

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It’s just than many have paywalls now...you can read a few articles then the site knows and tries to sell you an online subscription. NYT, WSJ, LA Times it’s frustrating.

It amazes me that people are willing to pay gobs of money for cable news but not a cent for quality journalism. Be careful what you pay for.

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Here’s a link to the main Cape Town newspaper

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/it-could-take-more-than-a-week-to-extinguish-table-mountain-fires-0989b23a-526b-493f-94bf-a14db8cf226c

 

For those who don’t know Cape Town, such fires occur each year. The cause of this is alleged to be an “unattended vagrant fire”as various homeless people live on the slopes of Table Mountain and the other mountains that run on from it.

 

This fire is unusual in that I can’t recall anything other than small blazes in these particular areas in previous years.

 

It’s not clear whether the automated anti-fire shutters (to protect the most important part of the historical archives) did close in time. I am surprised there was no coordinated effort to rescue items before the fire took hold. They did organise vehicles etc to take 4000 students from other buildings on the campus.

 

And if you’re a keen gardener, like me, bear in mind that the great botanical garden Kirstenbosch holds a much larger archive of plant materials in a separate research building.

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I can't avoid thinking this is SO STUPID. How come they never installed a Fire Extinguisher system in a building that contained so much historic value?!

South Africa is a third world country with a large population of unemployed people, many of them living in conditions we would consider "poverty". When you are spending all your time and resources trying to make sure your people have access to clean water, basic sanitation and electricity it shouldn't surprise you to learn that they don't have funds for this. ?

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South Africa is a third world country with a large population of unemployed people, many of them living in conditions we would consider "poverty". When you are spending all your time and resources trying to make sure your people have access to clean water, basic sanitation and electricity it shouldn't surprise you to learn that they don't have funds for this. ?

Yes and no. I don't know the status of the institutions affected by the fires, and how far back that status goes, but until 1994 South Africa was two countries. The white part was a first world country surrounded by third world conditions. Funding would certainly be a constraint for any capital expenditures since 1994, although perhaps less so in Western Cape province than in some other parts of the country. If they lacked state of the art fire suppression systems in 1994, that to me would be stupidity, or more charitably negligence. Lack of maintenance or modernising the systems since then can reasonably be attributed to the reasons you cite.

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Yes and no. I don't know the status of the institutions affected by the fires, and how far back that status goes, but until 1994 South Africa was two countries. The white part was a first world country surrounded by third world conditions. Funding would certainly be a constraint for any capital expenditures since 1994, although perhaps less so in Western Cape province than in some other parts of the country. If they lacked state of the art fire suppression systems in 1994, that to me would be stupidity, or more charitably negligence. Lack of maintenance or modernising the systems since then can reasonably be attributed to the reasons you cite.

In some ways, it still is two countries, although far more black South Africans have made it to the middle class. When I was there, I was struck by the high walls and razor wire surrounding higher end houses in Sandton and Pretoria.

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In some ways, it still is two countries, although far more black South Africans have made it to the middle class.

 

Yes @Pensant. I always describe SA as a small, multiracial first world country surrounded by a much larger, mainly black, third world country.

 

I was struck by the high walls and razor wire surrounding higher end houses in Sandton and Pretoria.

 

Violent crime is a serious problem. The great beauty of the Western Cape tends to lead visitors to think of it as a paradise...but when home invasions or burglaries occur, it’s unusual to leave witnesses unharmed.

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