The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Response teams are providing humanitarian relief in the form of food parcels, blankets and clothing to victims of a fire in Langa that occurred on Monday, 5 March 2012.
The fire, which started at 23:38, destroyed approximately 350 units resulting in the displacement of over 1 400 people in the area. The City’s hostels at Zone 19, 20 and at parts of Zone 17 have been completely destroyed by the fire.
The City’s Fire and Rescue Services section responded to the fire immediately. The first fire engine arrived within seven minutes of receipt of the emergency call. Firefighters and various types of fire tenders from 12 different fire stations were dispatched to the scene of incident.
The firefighters had to contend with a strong south-easterly wind and difficulty accessing the area whilst fighting the fire. The crews managed to bring the fire under control at 02:26 and completely extinguished by 05:40.
The City’s Human Settlements Department and insurers have been notified; they will be assessing the damages and will start procedures to effect repairs to the hostels.
The Provincial Government’s Social Development Department and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) have also been notified and will assist the City with further social assistance for the victims in distress.
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman J.P. Smith, visited the site today, 6 February 2012, to meet with a special task team. The task team has been established to assess the affected area and explore the implementation of design layouts or “re-blocking” in order to safeguard against the rapid spread of fire.
“The community was engaged regarding making use of the opportunity to create fire breaks, access and exit roads to prevent future fires. However these proposals have not been favourably received. The City will continue to engage with the community in order to improve the living conditions of the people and make the area safe,” said Alderman J.P. Smith.
The City will be providing emergency shelter for the fire victims until such time as the site has been cleared up in order for the people to rebuild their homes. An on-site joint operations centre has been established to coordinate relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
The Department of Home Affairs has been advised that the fire victims lost all of their personal belongings, including Identity Documents (IDs). Field staff will be mobilised to register the fire victims who lost their IDs and temporary IDs will be issued to ensure that, amongst others, persons who are in receipt of social security grants will be able to access their social grants.
The body of an unidentified person was found when emergency and disaster management teams were inspecting the site to ensure that the fire was completely extinguished.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.
