Pretoria - The City of Ekurhuleni is gearing up to prevent shack fires and loss of lives this coming winter season, it said on Friday.
Disaster and Emergency Services officials will visit one of the vulnerable informal settlements in Springs on Saturday to teach residents how to prevent shack fires and what actions to take in the event of a shack fire.
“'Call us on time in order for us to arrive on time' is the message we are taking to the residents of Gugulethu informal settlement this Saturday,” said the city’s Head of Disaster and Emergency Management, Moshema Mosia.
Gugulethu has suffered the highest number of reported fire incidents.
“Our call log register reflects that residents call the South African Police Service (SAPS) number instead of directly calling emergency services. There is a lot of time lost between the period that SAPS diverts the call to our call centre, which impacts negatively on the arrival time to a scene,” Ekurhuleni spokesperson Themba Gadebe said.
On Saturday, residents will see a demonstration of a burning demo shack to demonstrate how a candle, paraffin stove or braziers left unattended can quickly burn a shack to ashes and claim many lives.
The visit will take place at the Gugulethu/Everest sports ground and will start at 9am. - SAnews.gov.za
