Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
City embarks on extensive Fire Safety campaign
Fires are a frequent occurrence in Cape Town, particularly during the hot,
windy summer months. The City of Cape Town is therefore constantly seeking
to create awareness around fire safety, and frequently embarks on drives to
educate communities on preventative measures that will reduce the risk and
number of fires.
During 2014, the City responded to 14 200 fires. This included 2 811 residential
fires, 552 fires in buildings, 635 transport fires and 10 088 vegetation fires.
These fires unfortunately also claimed 114 lives, with 97 of these deaths as a
result of fires in informal settlements.
In 2014, the City’s Disaster Risk Management section coordinated social relief
and assisted 3 210 households (10 577 people) affected by fires in informal
settlements. The relief and assistance provided amounted to just over R5
million for 2014.
Fires occur across the city; however, fires in informal settlements pose various
challenges that may hamper firefighters’ ability to bring them under control
quickly.
Structures that are built too close together or that encroach on roadways
designed to ease access for emergency vehicles can impede the rapid
extinguishing of fires.
Water supply can also be problematic, particularly in areas where fire
hydrants have been vandalised.
In order to reach as many people as possible, this campaign will include
newspaper advertisements (with a cut-out of fire safety tips) as well as radio
ads to remind people of the devastating effects of fires, and to ask them to
work with us to prevent them.
Today in Masiphumelele we handed out plastic bottles that are impervious to
paraffin. These bottles can be used by residents to store their paraffin and
they carry the City’s fire safety message and emergency contact numbers.
These bottles have a special safety feature as they are fitted with a safety
lock (child-proof cap) to prevent spillage or accidents which could give rise
to fires.
Throughout this campaign, our Disaster Risk Management and Fire and
Rescue Service teams will hand out these paraffin bottle containers to various
communities.
We have also entered into a partnership with Lion Matches, who have
allowed us to place our emergency number and campaign message on
matchboxes, free of charge. These matchboxes are available from Shoprite
stores.
In addition, meat sellers in various communities will assist us in spreading the
word by placing educational messages from the campaign on their meat
packaging.
We urge residents to practise caution with flammable materials and to keep
them in a safe place and especially out of the reach of children, in order to
prevent any accidents.
Each year, the City’s Fire and Rescue Service and Disaster Risk Management
staff respond to hundreds of fire incidents, many of which are preventable.
Fire and Rescue Services have 260 firefighters on duty on a daily basis. The
City also employs 120 seasonal firefighters, on a contract basis from 1
December to 30 April each year, to assist the permanent firefighters with the
high number of vegetation fires encountered during the summer months. Last
year, 19 reservist firefighters were trained and deployed to various fire stations
to bolster the number of firefighters.
The City also partners with agencies such as Working on Fire, Table Mountain
National Park, and Cape Nature Conservation to ensure that fires, especially
wild fires, are extinguished as rapidly and effectively as possible.
In order to educate residents and raise awareness of fire safety, the City’s
Disaster Risk Management and Fire and Rescue Service teams conduct doorto-door campaigns on an ongoing basis.
This campaign will build on these efforts and aim to foster a culture of
avoidance behaviour in an effort to prevent the tragic disasters which occur
annually.
We are therefore reaching out to communities and appealing to residents to
work with us to bring an end to preventable fires and the unnecessary loss of
life.
They can do this by taking note of the following fire safety tips:
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Keep a close eye on paraffin stoves. Don't cook near a window with
a curtain
Make sure the stove doesn't fall over, as it may burn children or
cause a fire
Make sure candles are secure and cannot fall over. Don't go to
sleep with candles still burning
Teach children about the dangers of fire
Dispose of cigarette butts safely
Be aware of the dangers of illegal and faulty electricity
connections, which can cause fires
Keep a bucket handy to fill with water in order to extinguish flames
quickly
Keep a bucket of sand nearby to put out paraffin fires
Build dwellings a good distance (at least 3 m) apart to prevent fires
from spreading. Make sure this space is kept open
Keep roads and access to dwellings clear at all times
Do not block roads with possessions when there is a fire
Do not prevent or disrupt the work of crews fighting fires
To report a fire or any other emergency, residents can call 107 from a landline
or 021 480 7700 from a cellphone.
We appeal to residents to work with us to make this city safe and protect our
communities, children, homes and possessions. It is only by working together
that we can make progress possible.