The City of Cape Town’s firefighters had a busy weekend after responding to four separate informal residential fires from Saturday evening into Sunday morning.
One of those fires broke out in Dunoon (Site 5 informal settlement) where more than 50 staff and 12 firefighting resources were deployed.
According to the City’s Fire and Rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse firefighters were alerted to the fire in Dunoon at 23:20 on Saturday.
“We had 12 firefighting resources and more than 50 staff members on site,” she said, “an incident Management Team (IMT) type 4 was also activated to assist with scene management.”
Approximately 80 structures were affected, while no injuries or fatalities were reported.
Carelse added that preliminary investigations indicate that at least 300 informal structures have been destroyed by fire incidents (in Mfuleni, Langa and Dunoon), leaving scores of families without homes this Easter weekend.
“The first fire occurred in Langa; the emergency call came in at 07:20, and the last call was at 02:30 this morning for a fire in Mfuleni.
“There were two fatalities in the Mfuleni incident, and two people injured, one of whom was transferred to hospital for further treatment.”
The cause of the fires is unknown and is currently under police investigation.
Assessments
“The Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC) will conduct assessments at the fire sites to determine the number of structures destroyed and people affected,” said DRMC spokesperson Charlotte Powell.
“This process will take some time before final numbers are determined. We will also activate relevant City services to conduct clean-ups of the sites and restore any services that may have been affected by the fires.”
Meanwhile, humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers will assist families affected by the fires over the next five days, including hot meals, food parcels, mattresses, clothing and hygiene packs.
According to Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay, initial estimates are that almost 1 000 people have been displaced.
