“Emergency services responded to the scene after 4.33am and arrived to find multiple shacks on fire and immediately started with firefighting operations while protecting scores of unburnt shacks from being affected. The fire was contained and subsequently extinguished.”
Mabaso said the city's emergency services department would intensify public awareness campaigns at the informal settlement as part of continuous education for communities on fire safety and disaster risk reduction.
“The department calls on residents to use paraffin stoves with extreme caution, to never leave open fires without adult supervision or unattended, or overload electrical plugs with appliances. Illegal electricity connections are a fire and life hazard which residents should always be aware might lead to emergency incidents.”
The Tshwane emergency services department and disaster management department, together with the city’s community and social development department are co-ordinating relief efforts for the victims of the fire.
“The national and provincial departments of human settlements have been notified of the incident. The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” Mabaso said.
TimesLIVE
Pretoria shack fire leaves 250 people homeless
Image: Supplied
About 250 people have been left homeless after a a fire that broke out in Plastic View informal settlement in Pretoria’ east in the early hours of Saturday.
City of Tshwane spokesperson Thabo Charles Mabaso said Tshwane emergency services responded to the fire “involving 45 shacks at Plastic View informal settlement” just after 4:30am.
“One patient was treated and transported for smoke inhalation and moderate injuries and three were treated for minor injuries on the scene but refused transport to a medical facility. Two-hundred-and-fifty people lost shelter and personal belongings because of the fire,” Mabaso said in a statement.
“Emergency services responded to the scene after 4.33am and arrived to find multiple shacks on fire and immediately started with firefighting operations while protecting scores of unburnt shacks from being affected. The fire was contained and subsequently extinguished.”
Mabaso said the city's emergency services department would intensify public awareness campaigns at the informal settlement as part of continuous education for communities on fire safety and disaster risk reduction.
“The department calls on residents to use paraffin stoves with extreme caution, to never leave open fires without adult supervision or unattended, or overload electrical plugs with appliances. Illegal electricity connections are a fire and life hazard which residents should always be aware might lead to emergency incidents.”
The Tshwane emergency services department and disaster management department, together with the city’s community and social development department are co-ordinating relief efforts for the victims of the fire.
“The national and provincial departments of human settlements have been notified of the incident. The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” Mabaso said.
TimesLIVE
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