A special task team will be set up to curb fires this festive season following a series of shack fires at the weekend which left one man dead and 150 people displaced, the city’s Disaster Risk Management Centre has said.
Centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the team would intensify efforts to raise awareness in communities most at risk.
Food parcels, blankets and building starter kits were distributed to the victims yesterday after 13 fires destroyed homes across the city.
Solomons-Johannes said the authorities were still to investigate the causes of the fires.
On Sunday, 19 shacks and six backyard dwellings were gutted by five separate fires in Gugulethu, the Freedom Farm informal settlement in Belhar, Netreg, Kalkfontein and Nyanga.
Solomons-Johannes said 97 people had been displaced by those fires.
On Friday three shacks were razed in Gugulethu leaving three people homeless.
Two homes were also gutted by a fire in Khayelitsha’s BM section, leaving 16 people homeless, while another fire destroyed a shack in the Sweet Home informal settlement.
During the early hours of Saturday, five shacks burnt down in the Witsand informal settlement in Atlantis, which left six people without homes. One of the victims, 67-year-old Harold Fransman, died after sustaining serious burn wounds, said Solomons-Johannes.
During two other incidents, 16 people were left homeless when a fire destroyed four shacks in Church Circle in Vrygond, Muizenberg, and a backyard dwelling at 65 Junker Road in The Hague, Delft, was gutted.
Another 10 people were displaced by fires which burnt down three shacks in the Barcelona informal settlement in Gugulethu as well as a shack in Pumlani Village, Lotus River.
“The city’s Disaster Risk Management Centre encourages residents to be fire-safe when working with open flames. When going to bed, residents should isolate electrical devices and extinguish gas burners, candles, lamps and paraffin stoves to prevent fires,” he added.
Meanwhile, another 16 people were left homeless in Witsand after a large tree was uprooted by gale-force winds, damaging their homes.
The incident occurred on Saturday following a warning issued by the SA Weather Service of strong south-easterly winds on the Peninsula.
Solomons-Johannes said that on Saturday evening the tree had fallen on to four shacks, damaging them.
He said 16 people had been displaced but no one had been injured. A response team had helped to remove the tree.
Solomons-Johannes said the families had been given building starter kits, food, clothing and blankets.
- Cape Argus
Centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the team would intensify efforts to raise awareness in communities most at risk.
Food parcels, blankets and building starter kits were distributed to the victims yesterday after 13 fires destroyed homes across the city.
Solomons-Johannes said the authorities were still to investigate the causes of the fires.
On Sunday, 19 shacks and six backyard dwellings were gutted by five separate fires in Gugulethu, the Freedom Farm informal settlement in Belhar, Netreg, Kalkfontein and Nyanga.
Solomons-Johannes said 97 people had been displaced by those fires.
On Friday three shacks were razed in Gugulethu leaving three people homeless.
Two homes were also gutted by a fire in Khayelitsha’s BM section, leaving 16 people homeless, while another fire destroyed a shack in the Sweet Home informal settlement.
During the early hours of Saturday, five shacks burnt down in the Witsand informal settlement in Atlantis, which left six people without homes. One of the victims, 67-year-old Harold Fransman, died after sustaining serious burn wounds, said Solomons-Johannes.
During two other incidents, 16 people were left homeless when a fire destroyed four shacks in Church Circle in Vrygond, Muizenberg, and a backyard dwelling at 65 Junker Road in The Hague, Delft, was gutted.
Another 10 people were displaced by fires which burnt down three shacks in the Barcelona informal settlement in Gugulethu as well as a shack in Pumlani Village, Lotus River.
“The city’s Disaster Risk Management Centre encourages residents to be fire-safe when working with open flames. When going to bed, residents should isolate electrical devices and extinguish gas burners, candles, lamps and paraffin stoves to prevent fires,” he added.
Meanwhile, another 16 people were left homeless in Witsand after a large tree was uprooted by gale-force winds, damaging their homes.
The incident occurred on Saturday following a warning issued by the SA Weather Service of strong south-easterly winds on the Peninsula.
Solomons-Johannes said that on Saturday evening the tree had fallen on to four shacks, damaging them.
He said 16 people had been displaced but no one had been injured. A response team had helped to remove the tree.
Solomons-Johannes said the families had been given building starter kits, food, clothing and blankets.
- Cape Argus
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