http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,175047,00.html

18:28:20

30 shacks destroyed in E Cape blaze
August 12, 2008, 18:45

Thirty shacks have been destroyed by fire in the Chris Hani township in the Nelson Mandela Metro. Fire fighters are battling to control fires there and in the KwaNoxolo townships, as well as several veld fires on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth.

Further east along the coast, fire fighters are battling blazes in Kenton-on-Sea, where several shacks and houses are threatened by flames. It’s believed that the dry and hot windy conditions and burning cigarette butts thrown from car windows contribute to the spread of the fires.

Meanwhile, a four-year-old boy has been killed and a 28-year-old man hospitalised in separate fire incidents in the Johannesburg area. The child apparently died of smoke inhalation when the flat he was sleeping in caught fire in Fordsburg.

In the other incident, a 28-year-old man was taken to hospital, also for smoke inhalation, after several shacks burnt down in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg. Emergency Services spokesperson Percy Morokane says seven shacks burned to the ground in 15th Avenue, north of Johannesburg. A team from the city’s disaster management is determining the needs of the displaced and will render the necessary humanitarian assistance. At this stage the cause of the fire is unknown.