More than 40,000 Western Cape children suffer accidental paraffin poisoning every year, the local government announced on Wednesday.
Its annual fire and flood campaign has kicked off, and includes raising awareness among children and adults of the dangers associated with paraffin stoves.
Local government MEC Anton Bredell said it was fast becoming the biggest contributor to shack fires, and that communities need to be educated about its proper use.
He said they have received far too many reports and complaints of incorrect paraffin use in homes over the last year.
“More or less 47,000 children were poisoned last year through paraffin. We are busy with a paraffin training course within communities.”
He added that they would use Disaster Management to tackle the problem.
The SA Paraffin Association’s Cecile Hector said a quarter of the country’s population uses the fuel.
“Most of them are not educated on how to use paraffin properly, or what’s the dangers of paraffin. Most shack fires – like 98 percent of the time – [are] caused by paraffin-related incidents.”
Hector said while it’s difficult to pinpoint the number of deaths paraffin has caused, they have joined the fire and flood awareness road show to draw attention to precautionary measures.
- Eyewitness News
Its annual fire and flood campaign has kicked off, and includes raising awareness among children and adults of the dangers associated with paraffin stoves.
Local government MEC Anton Bredell said it was fast becoming the biggest contributor to shack fires, and that communities need to be educated about its proper use.
He said they have received far too many reports and complaints of incorrect paraffin use in homes over the last year.
“More or less 47,000 children were poisoned last year through paraffin. We are busy with a paraffin training course within communities.”
He added that they would use Disaster Management to tackle the problem.
The SA Paraffin Association’s Cecile Hector said a quarter of the country’s population uses the fuel.
“Most of them are not educated on how to use paraffin properly, or what’s the dangers of paraffin. Most shack fires – like 98 percent of the time – [are] caused by paraffin-related incidents.”
Hector said while it’s difficult to pinpoint the number of deaths paraffin has caused, they have joined the fire and flood awareness road show to draw attention to precautionary measures.
- Eyewitness News
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