Pretoria - The City of Cape Town's intensive public awareness and preparedness campaign on the dangers and prevention of fires within its area of jurisdiction is well underway.
The summer season in Cape Town is known as a high fire risk period when many residents living in vulnerable communities suffer due to devastating fires, resulting in a loss of their livelihoods, injuries and a loss of lives.
The City's Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman Smith, said: "The City has reached the point where, in order to effectively combat the scourge of fires, other measures must be taken over and above investing in the Fire and Rescue Services."
The City's Disaster Risk Management Centre and Fire and Rescue Services explored various strategies and responses to the problem before deciding on the strategy which features five key elements.
These elements are Education and Awareness, Emergency Preparedness, Engineering and Technology investments, Enforcement and Rehabilitation.
The City's Disaster Risk Management Centre, Fire and Rescue Services, Human Settlements, law enforcement agencies and other Departments embarked on the strategy to mitigate the occurrence of devastating fires.
"Over the last few years there has been a steady decrease in the number of informal dwelling units that were destroyed as a result of fires in informal settlements from 8 864 destroyed in 2005 to 3 009 in 2010.
"The number of fatalities due to fires in informal structures, however, remains unchanged and is cause for concern," said Smith.
The City is engaging with high-risk communities and educating them regarding fire safety awareness.
Residents and communities must, however, also accept their responsibility to reduce the risk of fires as the majority of shack fires are as a result of irresponsible behaviour.
The City's Disaster Risk Management Centre and Fire and Rescue Services commenced with the campaign on 20 December 2011 that will run throughout the Festive Season to highlight the dangers of fires and to teach communities how to avoid fires that could result in loss of life, injuries, damage to property and the environment.
The campaign is part of the City's commitment to create a Safe City and Caring City for all its residents.
