Cape Town - Fire hazards caused by approaching inclement weather have the City’s fire and rescue services on high alert.
Mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, said the department had seen a steady rise of incidents across all types of fires.
“No two winters are the same and our fire and rescue service is gearing up to attend to thousands of calls. While figures for 2018 showed a drop in incidents from the year before that, there was a significant increase during the last winter period,” said Smith.
From May to August 2018, the service responded to 7038 calls, and during the same period last year they attended to 7954.
“We have just emerged from a devastating summer period during which 91 people died in formal and informal housing fires. Winter tends to be when most structural fires occur and our service is bracing for a busy time,” said Smith.
“We always have concerns for the winter months when we see more serious burn injuries,” said Wayne Kleintjes, head of the Western Cape Adult Provincial Tertiary Burns Unit at Tygerberg Hospital.
“This causes a lot of pressure on staff and on available resources,” he added.
The Disaster Risk Management Centre has advised ways to prevent fires from starting or spreading are: be vigilant of open flames or cooking/ heating devices; keep children away from devices like heaters and lighters; don’t leave open fires unattended; make sure your home has no illegal electrical connections and plugs are not overloaded; and keep areas around your home clear of materials that could ignite or spread a fire.