The City of Cape Town’s (COCT) Fire and Rescue Service recently hosted a demonstration at the Epping Fire Station to test the feasibility of a fire retardant coating that is being looked at as one of the possibilities to reduce the impact of informal settlement fires.
According to the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, each year, fires at informal settlements claim numerous lives and leave thousands of people displaced.
” With the national housing crisis worsening and with vulnerable persons being attracted to the City in search of a better life, our informal settlements have grown faster than anyone could imagine,” Smith indicated.