UCT field fire contained and extinguished

A small field fire that broke out around 11.30pm on Wednesday evening at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Upper Campus has been extinguished.

UCT spokesperson, Elijah Moholola, says the fire was reported by the patrolling UCT Campus Protection Services (CPS) officers and the standard operating procedure was followed. “The fire services department was on site within 15 minutes and the fire was declared fully doused by 1.45am this morning,” he says.

Mr Moholola says once the fire was completely doused, overnight measures were put in place in the unlikely event of the fire re-igniting.

Mr Moholola confirmed there was no danger to any human life and the fire was very far from any buildings or infrastructure.

The City’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, says they responded to a report of grass alight on the grounds of UCT near the Sports Centre.

“Fire crews from Salt River, Ottery and Wynberg fire stations were on scene,” he says.

Mr Carelse says the fire officer from Salt River confirmed that it was heaps of wood piles that caught fire. “The UCT manager was on scene with a firefighting vehicle. The crew from Salt River returned to the scene this morning at 7.35am for an inspection and was informed that a cleaning crew appointed by UCT will make arrangements to remove these wood piles.”

Mr Carelse says the cause of the fire is still unknown and they are currently doing more investigations into it.

Mr Moholola says at this point there is no indication of the cause of the fire. “An investigation will follow and a formal report will be drafted and tabled through the relevant internal channels,” he says.