Wildfire tears down South Africa's iconic Table Mountain, guts historic University of Cape Town library

Cape Town, South Africa — Fire crews worked for a third day to extinguish a wildfire on the slopes of Cape Town's Table Mountain on Tuesday as the city came to terms with the damage caused by what officials have described as one of the area's worst blazes in years. About 90% of the fire had been contained, the Table Mountain National Park authority said, but only after firefighters worked through the night.   Those firefighters faced "extreme circumstances," said the Working on Fire organization, which specializes in dealing with wildfires and has been helping the city's fire department. The operation on Table Mountain had now reached the "mop-up" stage, Working on Fire said.

Fire-fighting helicopters were dropping water on areas where the fire still smoldered and smoked on the rocky peaks of Table Mountain. South African army choppers had joined the operation to support the fire department after the helicopters were all grounded Monday because of strong winds. The wildfire started early Sunday and, fueled by strong winds, ripped down and across the slopes of the mountain toward residential areas overlooking downtown Cape Town.   Neighborhoods were evacuated on Monday and people weren't yet able to return home. Firefighters mostly kept the flames at bay and away from homes — sometimes with just a few yards to spare. Around 250 firefighters were mobilized.