The City of Cape Town’s disaster management teams have been deployed to fire sites after firefighters spent Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning battling fires in four of Cape Town’s informal settlements.
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According to City’s Fire & Rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse, a fire that broke out in Umzumbe Street in Mfuleni resulted in the death of two people, an adult male and female, and left another two injured.
‘More than 50 firefighters were on scene, with over a dozen firefighting vehicles,’ said Carelse, adding that an estimated 150 structures were destroyed in the fire incident.
There were also two separate fires in Mshumpela Way, Langa, and another in Site 5, Dunoon.
‘The first fire occurred in Langa; the emergency call came in at 7:20pm and the last call was at 2:30am this morning for a fire in Mfuleni,’ said Carelse.
11 firefighting vehicles were on scene in Langa, with approximately 40 staff.
While no injuries or fatalities were reported and initial estimates were that around 40 structures were affected, firefighters were redeployed to Mshumpela Way in Langa after a second fire broke out at 1:35am.
‘A total of 10 firefighting vehicles were on scene from various fire stations and firefighters managed to contain and extinguish the fire by 4:25am,’ said Carelse. ‘It was estimated that approximately 5o structures were affected.
A person was also assaulted by members of the public and was taken to a nearby medical facility. The circumstances around the assault are not clear.
Firefighters were alerted to the fire which had broken out in Du Noon at 11:20pm.
‘We had 12 firefighting resources and over 50 staff members on site – an incident Management Team (IMT) type 4 was also activated to assist with scene management,’ said Carelse.
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 all four fire incidents, leaving scores of families without homes this Easter weekend.
The cause of the fires is unknown and is currently under police investigation.
‘The Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC) will conduct assessments at the fire sites to determine the number of structures destroyed and persons 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,’ added Powell.
Meanwhile, humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers will be assisting 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 1000 people have been displaced.
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