The Times: Shack fires leave six dead, 360 displaced

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2012/12/24/shack-fires-leave-six-dead-360-displaced

Shack fires leave six dead, 360 displaced

Six people have died and more than 360 were displaced after fires that ravaged parts of the country this week, according to various officials.

The deadly blazes were mostly shack fires.

On Sunday, three people including a toddler died when their shack caught fire in Lerato Park, Roodepan, in the Northern Cape.

The owner of the shack said he was at his neighbour when his home was gutted by fire, said Lieutenant Andrea Cloete.

The shack owner’s girlfriend, 34, their three-year-old daughter, and the girlfriend’s 62-year-old mother were inside.

Cloete said an inquest docket has been opened.

In the Western Cape, two people were killed when their homes caught fire in separate incidents in Khayelitsha on Sunday morning.

Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, spokesman for Cape Town metro’s disaster risk management centre, said the one fire was caused by a falling candle, while the cause of the second blaze was unknown.

Two other fires on Sunday morning destroyed two other houses in the same area, with sixteen people left homeless.

In Durban on Sunday, twenty shacks were destroyed at the Kennedy Road settlement in Clare Estate.

On Saturday a man died when his shack in Parkwood, in Mitchell’s Plain in Cape Town, caught alight.

Dozens of people were left homeless, as well as others due to fires in Philippi and Mfuleni, in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, residents in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro were advised to beware of veld fires, which began on Sunday.

Spokeswoman Martie Nel said there was a major fire in veld in Sardina Bay, in Port Elizabeth, on Sunday afternoon.

“Fire fighters are battling with the fire now, they actually brought it under control.”

She said there was no risk to life or property.

On Monday, 320 people were displaced when 80 shacks were destroyed by fire in Cape Town in separate incidents.