Fire causes loss of the Plant Conservation Unit offices and photographic collections

We are heartbroken to report that the uncontrolled fire on Table Mountain has resulted in the complete loss of the Plant Conservation Unit offices, along with irreplaceable collections of photographs.

The fire began in the morning of 18 April 2021 and escalated very quickly under rising wind conditions and an abundance of moribund vegetation beneath the pine trees at Rhodes Memorial and the University of Cape Town. The fire continued to encroach on UCT’s upper campus property, despite the best efforts from the City of Cape Town Fire and Disaster Risk Management Services.

Airborne embers from the burning pines on the west flank of UCT upper campus ignited various stands of vegetation around the campus, including a large palm tree that stood between the RW James (physics/oceanography) and HW Pearson (botany/ecology) buildings. It may have been embers from these trees that ignited Level 5 of the HW Pearson building, home of the PCU.

 

The PCU on fire on Sunday afternoon, 18 April 2021 (Source unknown)

 

Eight offices, the common room and the computer lab have been gutted, and all contents destroyed by the fire. Sad as these losses are, still worse is the destruction of irreplaceable historical photographic collections, and other unique long-term data sets and metadata. Mercifully, the palaeoecological lab appears to have survived serious damage from the fire, although the condition of the facility is still being assessed.

 

The aftermath of the fire. This photo was taken from the computer lab looking towards the common room. (Photo credit: Dawood Hattas)

 

We are grieving the loss of our welcoming, open and conducive workspace, and the facilities, data and memories it contained. At the same time, we are also extremely grateful that all our staff and students are safe. We are supporting one another during this incredibly difficult time and will work together to forge a way forward as a unit despite this tremendous loss. Even as we mourn the loss of our home and the irreplaceable collections it contained, we hold on to the fact that the PCU is so much more than the physical space.

We express our thanks and gratitude to all those who have sent condolences and offered help and support. We have heard from people across the world, including many ex-PCU and BIO students who have reminded us of the contributions that the unit has made to many people’s lives over the years through our teaching and research endeavours.

We also extend our gratitude to the emergency response team who were our eyes and ears on campus, and to the fire fighters who worked tirelessly to extinguish the fire and prevent further damage to the HW Pearson building. Several colleagues in our department went above and beyond duty to ensure that we were kept informed, and we are extremely grateful for their efforts throughout this process.

We also extend our heartfelt sympathy and support to others who have been affected by the fire, including our colleagues in the BIO Honours class of 2021, iCWild (also Level 5, HW Pearson) and the UCT Libraries.

If you are a UCT student who has been affected by the fire on upper campus, please see the communications from the Vice Chancellor and monitor the UCT website for further updates.