200 homes lost in shack fire

2005-12-26 12:04

Cape Town - 200 shacks were destroyed in a fire in an informal settlement at Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats on Monday morning, Cape Town disaster management services spokesperson John Brown said.

Disaster management personnel were still trying to verify the exact number, a task made more difficult by the fact that many occupants were away in the Eastern Cape for the festive season.

"And it always tends to be a bit chaotic on the first day of a fire," he said.

He said no-one was reported injured in the blaze, which began shortly after 6am and was under control by 09:00.

A helicopter was used to waterbomb the fire.

There had been about six other shack fires during the night, most of them involving only one or two structures.

Probably 90% of the fires were caused by negligence, linked to the fact that many people did their cooking outside, on a brazier.

"It just needs one coal on plastic and the next minute the plastic goes," he said.

The brush fire which raged over the weekend in the Blouberg/Melkbosstrand area, and which at one point threatened a caravan park and an old age home, was now "basically under control".

"They're just monitoring the area," he said.

Ground crews would stay there to monitor hotspots for possible flare-ups.

- SAPA