Table Mountain fire that gutted UCT library a ‘malicious act’, investigation finds

A report on the 18 April Table Mountain wildfire, investigated by Rob Erasmus of Enviro Wildfire Services, has ruled out any possibility of the fire being a natural or accidental/negligent occurrence.

“Evidence suggesting that the fire was started as a malicious act is being investigated,” the report read. 

Erasmus told Daily Maverick that the investigation had ruled out natural causes and accidental causes or negligence on the basis that there was no chance of a lightning strike or falling rocks resulting in spontaneous combustion, and there had been no hiker or vagrant activity where the fire began, among other possibilities. 

“We were able to eliminate the possible accidental/negligence options. Then we moved on to the third category, which was ‘malicious’. We’ve got the video footage that is fixed on where the fire started, and there’s absolutely no fire, no smoke, no human activity at all,” the investigator said. 

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, allegations were that the fire was started by a vagrant on the mountain. A homeless man was arrested and appeared in court but arson charges were eventually withdrawn against him.

Erasmus' investigation has now found that the only activity around the fire’s starting point was when a white car pulled over about 400m from where the fire started and drove along for another 400m at walking pace before driving off. 

“And within two minutes the fire started. We believe something was thrown from the vehicle and we’ll be going back there now. We’ve got some experiments we’re going to conduct… to confirm our hypothesis,” Erasmus said. 

Erasmus’s investigation has confirmed that the fire the homeless man was accused of starting was on the night before the Table Mountain wildfire and was a separate incident.

The wildfire began on a Sunday morning, with the temperature reaching 30°C. It started on Devil’s Peak and spread to the University of Cape Town, destroying the Jagger Reading Room — a library that housed historical archives. Strong winds made it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze, which damaged 600 hectares of land and 11 buildings, including the Rhodes Memorial Restaurant and Mostert’s Mill. 

A firefighter prepares to battle the blaze that destroyed the nearly 200-year-old Jagger Reading Room at UCT. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Nic Bothma)