2015 Western Cape fire season

2015 Western Cape fire season
An aerial view of 2015 fires on the hills above Muizenberg.
Date(s)February 2015 - April 2015 (SAST)
LocationWestern Cape, South Africa
Statistics
Burned areaOver 11 800 ha[1][2][3]
Land useAgriculture
Impacts
Deaths4
Non-fatal injuries56[4][5]
Structures destroyed13
Damage>R11 million (ZAR, 2015)[1]
Ignition
CauseArson,[6] lightning

The 2015 Cape wildfires were a series of wildfires that burned across the Western Cape from February to April 2015. Major fires burned across the Cape Peninsula starting on 1 March in Muizenberg and burning until 9 March, when firefighters extinguished it.[7][8] The fire resulted in 1 death, 56 injuries, over 6,900 hectares (17,000 acres) of burnt land, and 13 damaged properties, of which 3 were destroyed.[4][8][9][10] The cause of the fire was later determined to be arson.[1][6] There were also major fires near Wellington and Porteville starting in February, which claimed the lives of 3 firefighters and a fire in Stellenbosch that caused the evacuation of the University of Stellenbosch and burned over 2,900 hectares (7,200 acres) of land.

  1. ^ a b c Legg, Kieran (11 March 2015). "Cops probe arson claim". IOL News. SAPA. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Stellenbosch sports science institute evacuated". News24. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  3. ^ Jordan, Bobby (25 February 2015). "Farmhouse destroyed as huge wildfire rages". Times LIVE. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Three injured in Cape, blaze at bay". eNCA. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference injury2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b "The cause of Scarborough fire was arson: SANParks". eNCA. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Crews battling as Cape Town fires continue to rage". eNCA. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Cape Town fire is out". Time Live. SAPA. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Investigators close in on cause of Cape fire". eNCA. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).