Scores in Gauteng left destitute after shacks go up in flames again

About sixty-eight shacks went up flames in Pomona near Kempton Park, Gauteng. Picture: Supplied

About sixty-eight shacks went up flames in Pomona near Kempton Park, Gauteng. Picture: Supplied

Published Oct 18, 2019

Share

Port Elizabeth - An estimated sixty-eight shacks went up flames in Pomona near Kempton Park, Gauteng, again, media liaison District Manager for the Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (Dems) William Ntladi said in a statement on Friday.

The fire broke out about a kilometre from KwaMax informal Settlement near Great North road where more than two hundred shacks burnt on 30 September 2019, leaving about 900 people without shelter. 

Ntladi said that an unknown number of people were displaced but that, fortunately, no casualties were recorded thus far.

City of Ekurhuleni firefighters responded promptly to the scene after identifying a ball of heavy dense carbon smoke emitted along EP Malan street in Pomona on Friday around 12 noon.

On arrival, scores of shacks were well alight, with the fire spreading towards the entire informal settlement and other brick and mortar structures in the vicinity due to strong wind blowing at the time.

A fleet of eight fire engines with thirty firefighters were on the scene to battle the blaze. The fire was contained and extinguished within two hours, the statement said.

The cause of the fire is still a subject of investigations by fire safety officers. Preliminary information on scene was that a lit paraffin stove was left unmonitored and burst into flames inside a shack and the fire spread vigorously to the entire settlement, Ntladi said. 

The person who allegedly left the stove unattended was nowhere to be found, he said in the statement. 

"What is of great concern is that, firefighters visited the settlement last week to educate the residents on fire safety practices," Ntladi said in the statement.

African News Agency (ANA)

Related Topics: