2015 Western Cape fire season | |
---|---|
Date(s) | February 2015 - April 2015 (SAST) |
Location | Western Cape, South Africa |
Statistics | |
Burned area | Over 11 800 ha[1][2][3] |
Land use | Agriculture |
Impacts | |
Deaths | 4 |
Non-fatal injuries | 56[4][5] |
Structures destroyed | 13 |
Damage | >R11 million (ZAR, 2015)[1] |
Ignition | |
Cause | Arson,[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.
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