Cape Town - Twenty-four people have found themselves homeless after a fire destroyed four wendy houses in Hangberg, Hout Bay, on Sunday afternoon, as the fire season persists in the city.
Early yesterday morning, the fire victims began the long process of rebuilding with limited building materials.
The cause of the fire, which started in the afternoon, remains unknown.
City Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said the fire services assisted with the fire incident over the weekend in Hangberg with fire crews from Hout Bay, Constantia, Sea Point, and Epping fire stations using three fire engines and one water tanker.
One of the victims, Josephine Angola, whose three-bedroom wendy house burnt down in the fire, said it was the fourth fire in the area since 2021.
“We do not know what caused the fire. No one was home when it started. We were in another area with the rest of the family discussing funeral arrangements when we were called about the incident.
“We lost everything and would need any form of assistance, especially immediate help in terms of building materials.
“What we have observed is the need for a fire hydrant because every time a fire breaks out there is no water in the taps and everything burns to the ground,” she said.
Angola said most of the families had started preparing for the Christmas season in terms of buying clothing and food and had lost everything in the fire.
Community leader Roscoe Jacobs said there was no alternative accommodation that could be made available to the victims as the community hall was still occupied by families whose structures burnt in a fire three years ago.
“This is the problem in all the areas where there is informal housing and now more than ever the City needs to investigate the causes of these fires so that we can prevent these incidents from persisting.
“We have a housing project that is supposed to be taking off and the City needs to fast-track this development which is due to Hangberg residents,” he said.
Roscoe said the impact of the fire was minimal as he said people in the area were conscious of the space between the informal structures which he said had contributed to the fire not spreading to other structures.
The Thula Thula organisation, which is providing relief packages, said the greatest needs at the moment were men’s clothing, shoes of all sizes and ages, blankets and non-perishable food items.