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Caution urged as Cape Town residents try to stay warm amid cold snap

  • [File Image] The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
  • Image Credits :
  • SABC News fire
Reading Time: 2 minutes

The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services is cautioning residents to be extra careful when trying to stay warm during the cold snap the province is experiencing.

This as six people – including a toddler – died in recent days when their informal structures caught fire.

Earlier on Sunday, four people died in two separate incidents in Khayelitsha and Du Noon.

Four people have died in two separate incidents where informal structures caught alight early this morning in…

Posted by SABC News Western Cape on Sunday, 30 August 2020

The city’s fire spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, says both scenes have been handed over to the police service to, among others, determine what caused the dwellings to burn down.
“The City’s Fire and Rescue Service was informed that an informal structure was alight in Qandu-Qandu Informal Settlement just off Japhta Masemola Drive.
The structure was completely destroyed and two men and one woman sustained fatal burn wounds.
Then, authorities say, at 4.45 am fire crews responded to a call that informal structures were on fire in Usasaza Street at the Bhekela Informal settlement where firefighters came across a body that was burnt beyond recognition.

Carelse says incidents like these are prevalent in winter.

“Experience has shown that winter is the time when there is an increased risk of structural fires, especially as people try to stay warm. Always ensure that cooking fires are extinguished properly, keep a bucket of sand and a bucket of water handy and extinguish all candles and lamps before going to sleep or leaving home.”

Snowfall has been recorded in a number of regions in the Western – and Northern Cape. Heavy snow has been reported in…

Posted by SABC News Western Cape on Saturday, 29 August 2020

 

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