A bleak Christmas lies ahead for residents of an informal settlement in Nomzamo in Strand after a fire on Tuesday morning.
The Gift of the Givers was called in to assist by residents.
Gift of the Givers spokesperson, Ali Sablay said they received calls from 3am on Christmas Eve by community leaders and fire victims from Nog‘n Bietj ie informal settlement.
“All we could hear on the phone was ‘it’s burning, please come help us', our teams will be on-site this morning to meet community leaders to set up a base for humanitarian assistance. The exact number of those affected is unknown as the relevant authorities still have to register the number of residents affected,” Sablay said.
Sablay said this is the eighth fire in seven days for Gift of the Givers team members.
“Our teams are still actively supporting fire victims Du Noon, Kosov,o and Masiphumelele,” he said.
The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse confirmed the Strand fire and said one person has died during the incident.
“One person died in an early morning fire in the Wag ‘n Bietjie Informal Settlement in Strand.
At around 1am an emergency call was received from Richmond Street in Nomzamo on Tuesday, December 24. Several crews were on the scene to contain the blaze which was fanned by a strong southeaster [wind]. By 5.30am, the fire was extinguished. Several structures were destroyed.”
“The totals will be confirmed by the Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC) following the completion of a formal assessment. CPR was done on an adult male who had suffered smoke inhalation; however, he was declared deceased on scene.
No other injuries were reported and the scene was handed over to Lwandle SAPS for further investigation,” Carelse said.
Disaster Management spokesperson, Sonica Lategan said teams have been activated to the site in Nomzamo where a formal assessment will begin to verify the number of structures destroyed and persons affected.
“The outcomes of the assessment will be submitted to Sassa and the National Department of Human Settlements, for the purposes of relief efforts. In the interim, DRMC will call on non-governmental organisations to assist with humanitarian relief. The Centre will also coordinate various City services to clear the site and assist with any additional recovery efforts,” Lategan said.
Late evening on Monday, the Gift of the Giver teams received another call from outside of Cape Town.
“We received word from the Breede Valley Municipality that a fire has been extinguished in Stofland Informal Settlement in De Doorns. Close to 200 people have been displaced just before Christmas. The affected families are seasonal farm workers who recently purchased Christmas items this weekend. There has been an urgent request for drinking water as well,” Sablay said.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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