Three die as fires raze Cape townships
Three people died and hundreds were displaced in Strand, Philippi, Khayelitsha and Dunoon when fires ravaged the areas.
|||Cape Town - Two people died and more than 430 people were displaced in Strand, Philippi and Khayelitsha when their homes were razed by fires on Sunday night. A third person died in a fire in Dunoon on Saturday night
Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Theo Layne said a woman and a girl were fatally burnt in Khayelitsha, when nine wood and iron structures caught fire, leaving 23 people displaced, on Sunday night.
Layne added: “One hundred and twenty to 150 wood and iron structures in Strand (were also burnt) leaving 400 people displaced. No injuries were reported.
“And in Philippi 13 people were displaced when one formal structure and three informal structures burnt, but all occupants are accounted for.”
He said the causes of all three incidents were undetermined.
Meanwhile, a man died and more than 300 people were displaced after fires destroyed their homes in Dunoon near Table View, and Masiphumelele, Fish Hoek, earlier in the weekend.
Layne said the Dunoon fire, which killed one man and left 12 homeless, took place at around 9.45pm on Saturday.
“The cause of the fire is undetermined. The police have opened an inquest docket.”
In the fire in Masiphumelele, which started in the early hours of Saturday, about 70 wood and iron dwellings were destroyed and 300 people were displaced.
Fifty-two firefighters battled the blaze. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
The city’s disaster risk management’s spokeswoman, Charlotte Powell, said firefighters were still damping down flames on Sunday.
The cause of the fire had not yet been established.
A local NGO, Historical Disadvantage Individuals, provided relief to displaced Masiphumelele residents, who also received emergency shelter at the Masiphumelele Community Hall.
The Human Settlements Department provided fire kits for residents to rebuild dwellings destroyed in the fire, Powell said.
Masiphumelele community leader Lunga Mathambo said fires and floods were common in the township during seasonal peaks in winter and summer.
“Shacks easily catch flames because they are built with wood and iron.
“The only solution to this situation is that people get more land so that they can move away from the informal settlements and into solid homes. The township is overcrowded as well.
“Many people have lost their belongings in fires before. They have to start from scratch and rely on friends and family to help them when they are destitute.”
Cape Argus
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