‘I just took my grandchildren and ran’
‘I just took my grandchildren and ran’
10 December 2009
published by www.capetimes.co.za
South Africa —
Hundreds of Khayelitsha residents who lost their homes in a devastating blaze – the first major fire of the season – were up early on Thursday morning trying to recover possessions and rebuild their houses.
About 600 people were left homeless when 150 shacks were destroyed in the fire.
Firefighters spent seven hours trying to control the blaze that started at 12.30pm on Wednesday in Khayelitsha’s Site B, Y Section.
It apparently began in the top floor of a double-storey home which then fell over, igniting the surrounding shacks.
No deaths or injuries were reported, except for a firefighter who was treated for smoke inhalation.
On Thursday morning all that remained of people’s homes were sheets of burnt corrugated iron. The smell of smoke and burnt metal hung heavily in the air around Y Section.
Residents told the Cape Argus that everyone affected by the fire had lost their possessions.
Identity documents, food stamps and birth certificates, as well as clothing bought in anticipation of the Christmas holidays, were among the things that most people said they particularly regretted losing.
Sina Mkhazi, who lives with her three daughters and four grandchildren, said the fire had given her no chance to save her belongings.
“I just took my grandchildren and ran,” she said.
Many of the residents said they had returned from work to discover their homes had been destroyed.
“The fire took everything from me. My home of 11 years is gone, along with all my possessions. The only things I have left are the clothes that I’m wearing,” said Ronald Mgundlwa. “I don’t know what else to do except start rebuilding and forget this happened.”
When the Cape Argus arrived at the scene late on Wednesday afternoon, residents and firefighters were removing the rubble and extinguishing the last of the flames.
Groups of people stood around and stared in shock at what little was left of their possessions, but said they were grateful that no one was injured in the fire.
Others were collecting any sheets of corrugated iron that could be reused to rebuild their homes.
Disaster Management’s Greg Pillay said those people whose homes had been destroyed in the fire had been offered accommodation in the Andile Msisi Khayelitsha community hall and were being provided with meals and blankets.
The local NGO, the Mustafadin Foundation, had also provided assistance, he said.
Resident Daniel Waka said many people had chosen not to stay in a nearby community hall overnight because they were “confused” and needed the comfort of their friends, family and neighbours.
The senior communications officer of the Cape Town Fire Control and Command centre, Petula Abrahams, described the blaze as the first major shack and property fire of the season.
Other large fires have been reported in the past few weeks, but those only affected vegetation.
Strong south-easterly winds are predicted throughout the weekend, accompanied by temperatures in the high 20s which are conducive to the start and spread of fires. No formal fire warning has yet been issued by the SA Weather Office.
The City of Cape Town announced in October that 66 people had died during last year’s fire season, with damage to property amounting to almost R80-million.
In one of last season’s biggest blazes, in March this year, a raging fire devastated large tracts of veld on Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak.
Two people died on the mountain and scores of residents had to be evacuated from their homes.
On Thursday morning the MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, transferred R2-million to a fund to boost aerial fire-fighting and sea rescues and lifesaving in the Western Cape.
