During the festive period, more than 2 000 individuals living in informal settlements in Cape Town were left homeless after damaging fires destroyed their homes, Cape {town} Etc reports.
From November to May, the Western Cape experiences its hottest, driest, and windiest conditions during this time, which is classified as the ‘fire season’.
The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service Department has responded to 3 546 emergency incidents, where 2 056 were vegetation fires, 212 were informal residential fires, 153 were formal residential fires, 432 were car crashes, 173 were pedestrians knocked down and 130 were trauma incidents.
Meanwhile, the Disaster Risk Management Centre responded to fires in four major informal settlements in the space of four days. A total of 1 811 residents were left without a home.
The areas that were most affected were Masiphumelele, Nomzamo, Dunoon and Langa, according to News24.
In a recent incident, 282 people were displaced after a fire blazed through the SST Section in Town Two, Khayelitsha, on Tuesday, 21 January.
Charlotte Powell, Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesperson, said that officials determined that 83 structures were destroyed, which affected hundreds of residents.
‘All services were on site to clear the fire debris and restore any other municipal infrastructure and/or services impacted by the incident,’ said Powell.
‘The list of affected persons has been submitted to Sassa (SA Social Security Agency) and the national Department of Human Settlements for further assistance,’ Powell added.
According to Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse, from 1 to 23 January, 142 fires were reported at informal settlements.
‘The costs are built into the City’s annual budget. It is not possible to quantify how much money is spent on responding to informal settlement fires,’ Carelse said.
‘The City has a minimum deployment of 240 firefighters per 24-hour shift at 32 fire stations around the metropole, and they are mandated to respond to any incidents within the scope of the fire and rescue service,’ Carelse added.
Currently, more than 2 300 firefighters, 24 aircraft and R15 million will be dedicated towards fighting wildfires in the Western Cape during the summer.
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