Cape Town - Despite a positive decline in the number of formal and residential fires over the past year, there has been an increase in the number of dwelling fires in informal settlements.
Although there has been a 13.5% increase in the number of informal dwellings affected by fires there has also been a 14% drop in the number of special service calls (car accidents, hazardous materials, rescues), a 5.5% reduction in the number of formal residential fires and a 29% reduction in the number of fire fatalities, according to the most recent fire and rescue service statistics.
These were released on Wednesday at the Gugulethu Fire Station which reopened last week. The station experienced attacks on February 17 and June 14 that cost in excess of R1.2 million for the damage and upgrades.
Divisional commander of Southern district Mervyn Carolissen said the community was upset by a lack of housing in the area and the station was next to the Fezeka sub-council building that deals with housing, making the station a soft target for attacks.
“The fire station being closed due to the attacks has caused a delay in the response time to incidents and firefighters also experienced post-traumatic stress from the attacks,” he said.
A new gate was put up in front of the station, electric fencing was installed all around the station, panic buttons were allocated throughout the building, CCTV cameras have been set-up covering areas inside and outside of the station, and two additional law enforcement security guards will operate 24 hours a day.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the increase of double-storey structures in informal settlements contributed to the higher number of dwelling fires.
Firefighters also had difficulty responding to fires because of the narrow roads and lack of street names or the exact locations of a fire in new settlements.
“There was also an 8.7% increase in vegetation fires year-on-year which is why resources are increased during the warmer months, when most of vegetation fire occurs over a window period of four or five months,” he said.
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