---
title: "In focus: When Table Mountain caught alight"
description: "Cape Town photographer Dave Harker shares analogue photos from the day the University of Cape Town burned."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "PHOTO ESSAY"
author: "Dave Harker"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/dave-harker/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-04-25-in-focus-when-table-mountain-caught-alight/"
published: "2021-04-25T23:07:22"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 211
---

# In focus: When Table Mountain caught alight

> Cape Town photographer Dave Harker shares analogue photos from the day the University of Cape Town burned.

By Dave Harker · Published 26 April 2021, 01:07 SAST

## Content

“To be there in that moment, seeing the situation unfolding in front of me, I felt helpless. I could only turn to documenting the scene, with students scrambling and grabbing their belongings. It was testing for all involved,” says [photographer Dave Harker](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-01-30-true-colours-in-black-and-white-amateur-photographer-tells-the-stories-of-cape-towns-streets/).

All images were shot on Ilford HP5 35mm film.

![A rare glimpse of Devil’s Peak on Sunday 18th April, with an increasingly out of control fire. Photo: Dave Hark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/VhC8bDQhZHicvr2DAUMiFKnJLDI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/176.jpg)

*A rare glimpse of Devil’s Peak on Sunday 18th April, with an increasingly out-of-control fire. Photographs: Dave Harker*

![Rosebank, the heart of UCT student residence covered up in smoke. Photo: Dave Hark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/dM2R-FuacVl9ClbluHOSNFgf6zY=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/182.jpg)

*Rosebank, the heart of UCT student residence covered up in smoke.*

![Photo: Dave Hark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ps0VIZbmpH78fockQrAYCEOfeeE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/183.jpg)

*A group of students, leaving the university's residences.*

![Helpless. Students were left stranded on the street with all their belongings not knowing in which direction to go. Photo: Dave Hark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/TOOSugzWVZI9-AXMNr9GFNYAlho=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/187.jpg)

*Helpless. Students were left stranded on the street with all their belongings not knowing in which direction to go.*

![Lost, a student standing on the corner of Woolsack Drive in the heavy smoke.](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/T3j2S7kcnFaQH1x5rIQ9FYEcz0Q=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/170.jpg)

*A student standing on the corner of Woolsack Drive in the heavy smoke.*

![A security guard out of breath, the security guard scrambled to various buildings dropping
off fire extinguishers at each location.](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/U_KIZ-mc7cnIsTDyNDDZW9-9ntA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/168.jpg)

*A security guard running to drop off fire extinguishers at various buildings.*

![A security guard running to drop off fire extinguishers at various buildings.](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/f5wT7IHqFR-_haM57oFPCh_SwAU=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/165-2.jpg)

*A security guard running to drop off fire extinguishers at various buildings.*

![Photo: Dave Harker](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/YzOREZBPaPVOMjIaYDbVhBhnV3Y=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/189.jpg)

*Students leaving the university.*

![A common sight amongst students, contacting their loved ones alerting them to the situation. Photo: Dave Harker](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/zPJ8tFVES5FOsjH5J7zmGUZ2Bmk=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/166.jpg)

*A common sight amongst students, contacting their loved ones alerting them to the situation.*

![A traffic officer calmly guiding the traffic through a chaotic main road, with plenty vehicle
and foot traffic. Photo: Dave Harker](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/duOLIV6dnt2RNN_BLi20sVh3L28=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/188.jpg)

*A traffic officer calmly guiding the traffic through a chaotic main road, with plenty of vehicles and people walking.*

![Woolsack Drive blocked off to traffic, with only emergency vehicles using the smokey road. Photo: Dave Harker](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/npceOV7P8oV_6NW0jsuLg1Yyh3A=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/193.jpg)

*Woolsack Drive blocked off traffic, with only emergency vehicles using the smokey road.*

![Empty student residence covered in a cloud of smoke with no one in sight. Photo: Dave Harker](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/teP1L2J69TVRWUjpnkGgvfca6ys=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/190.jpg)

*Empty student residence covered in a cloud of smoke with no one in sight. DM/ ML*