Cape Town fires could take a week to totally extinguish
A massive cloud of grey smoke has blanketed the city of Cape Town on Tuesday morning.
It's after a devastating fire burned for two days and gutted more than four thousand hectares of Table Mountain National Park.
By midnight, it was apparently still not contained completely. Fire fighters remain on high alert.
We're told the blaze will only be totally extinguished by the end of the week.
Cape Town's Mayor, Dan Plato, says losing major heritage sites was heartbreaking.
"I am very distraught with what I am seeing happening with the library, old ancient material for the students to use to the post-graduate student to do their assignments. Many of those things are gutted."
Plato also thanked firefighters for battling the blaze.
Some residential areas, including Vredehoek have been evacuated as a precautionary measure.
The blaze broke out on Sunday morning on the slopes of Table Mountain.It spread to the University of Cape Town where it destroyed part of a library housing a unique collection of African archives.
Hundreds of students were evacuated and accommodated at hotels near the university. The inferno has also destroyed the Rhodes Memorial Restaurant, private homes and the 18th century Mostert's Hill windmill.
Cape Town mayor Dan Plato says efforts are currently focused on the mountain above the Vredehoek suburb.
Aerial firefighting support has been forced to remain on the ground due to the wind.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, with one suspect taken into custody.
