Monday, March 2, 2009

Du Noon resident burns to death

A resident of the Du Noon informal settlement died and more than 100 were left homeless as firefighters fought three separate shack fires over the weekend.

They also continued tackling blazes in Somerset West.

Teams of firefighters worked throughout Sunday night trying to contain fires in Somerset West they have been battling for eight consecutive days.

Early on Sunday, a Du Noon resident burnt to death.

Greg Pillay, head of the city's disaster risk management centre, said 24 shelters were gutted and about 100 residents left homeless.

Milnerton police spokesperson Daphne Dell said she was yet to receive information on the blaze and the identity of the deceased resident.

Pillay said that in a second shack fire, four shelters on Lower Railway Road in Woodstock were destroyed leaving 10 residents homeless. The Blind Quip Cape factory was also damaged.

In a third blaze, six Khayelitsha residents were left homeless when two shacks burnt down.

While the affected informal settlement residents started rebuilding their homes, more than 100 firefighters battled a blaze which stretched from the mountains above the Lourensford wine estate in Somerset West to Sir Lowry's Pass.

The fire, which had been contained on Thursday, flared up again late on Saturday and was fanned by gale-force winds.

The flames were most intense above Lourensford wine estate, Vergelegen wine estate and on Horse Shoe Bend in Sir Lowry's Pass.

Pieter Smit at the Cape Town Fire Command and Control Centre said soaring temperatures and thick, dense vegetation were hampering firefighters' efforts.

The temperature reached the high 30s in Somerset West. Smit said if the wind picked up, property would probably again be under threat.

On Sunday, at an area above Sir Lowry's Pass Village, firefighters tackled flames in the bushes between trees near a house.

Flames could be seen at the base of some trees and blackened logs were smouldering on the ground.

Some of the trees snapped and crashed down as the fire neared.

A firefighting helicopter later boosted firefighters' efforts and dumped loads of water where a thick plume of black smoke was rising.

A firefighter emerging from the smouldering vegetation, face red, said the heat was too intense.

He had two bottles of water in his pockets and after a short rest he said he was taking them to his colleagues "suffering" nearer the flames.

The fire flared up in Somerset West last week and raged until Thursday.

While some firefighters suspected the fire was started by arsonists, others believed it was an extension of a blaze that broke out in Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch, nearly a month ago.

- Cape Times

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