Three people died and hundreds were left destitute after three raging fires ripped through informal settlements in Nomzamo.
Hundreds of homes were gutted in three separate shack fires on Wednesday 16, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March. Two men and a woman were claimed in the incidents.
Sam Mabadi, a Nomzamo community member, said Wednesday’s broke out at a shop in Selven Street.
“Around 19:00 we heard people shouting, ‘Fire! Fire!’,” he said. “We ran out and on arriving at the shop it had already burnt to the ground.”
What amazed Mabadi the most is that the fire was so strong that at one stage it actually burnt with the wind blowing against it. “All the shacks on the first day burnt down in less than an hour. Luckily most of the residents were still on their way to their homes from work. We lost no one in the first day’s fire.”
Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services, said several residents were displaced when their homes were destroyed in the fire which ripped through Solly’s Town informal settlement on Wednesday. Fire and Rescue Services responded following a call received about the fire in Onverwacht Street around 19:40. Carelse said 40 firefighters and 11 firefighting appliances were dispatched to the scene.
“The fire crew extinguished the blaze just before 00:54 on Thursday morning (17 March),” he said.
Carelse confirmed that no fatalities were reported, but that one person was transported to hospital with wounds sustained in the blaze.
In the meantime, some of the fire victims in Solly’s Town informal settlement have started rebuilding their homes. “Those that can afford materials can rebuild,” said Mabadi. “The rest of us can’t afford materials. So we are waiting for the next pay day and until then we have to make a plan with what we have.”
He said some residents who lost their homes are living with relatives, while others still live in their burnt-out shacks and are exposed to the elements.
The incident was succeeded by two more on Saturday and Sunday.
“The City’s Fire and Rescue Services was alerted to informal structures alight in Lonja Street, Nomzamo, at 22:16 on Saturday,” said Carelse. “Fire crews from Strand, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Somerset West and Mitchells Plain fire stations responded with three fire engines, three water tankers and a rescue vehicle.”
He confirmed that several informal structures were destroyed in the fatal fire, which claimed the lives of a man and woman. “The fire was extinguished at 23:29, but the cause remains unknown.”
City firefighting crews again called into action at 06:51 the following day.
“Fire crews from Strand and Somerset West attended to informal structures alight in Manengele Street in two fire engines, one water tanker and one rescue vehicle,” said Carelse.
“One adult male sustained fatal burn wounds. The fire was extinguished at 08:02 and the cause is unknown.”
According to Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for Disaster Risk Management, the fires destroyed altogether 115 structures, leaving 277 people displaced.
Ward 86 councillor Xolani Diniso, who assisted residents in his ward said much material was still needed. He said anyone who can assist with materials should contact him on 084 055 0615.
