The fight against winter shack fires
The Department of Disaster and Emergency Services introduced the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to the community of Gugulethu on Saturday.
This team will be fighting shack fires this winter.
According to the head of DEMS, Moshema Mosia, the Gugulethi informal settlement has suffered the highest number of reported fires.
Mosia says their call log register has reflected residents call the SAPS instead of directly calling emergency services.
The metro’s spokesperson, Themba Gadebe, says a lot of time is wasted between the time the SAPS diverts the call to the call centre, which impacts negatively on emergency service’s response time to the scene.
Gadebe says residents watched a demonstration of how an unattended candle, paraffin stove or brazier can quickly burn a shack to ashes and claim many lives.
The MMC of Community Safety, Vivian Chauke, advised residents to always have a bucket of water nearby with which to douse fires, and pleaded with the community to work hand in hand with the CERT.
She explains the team will receive a stipend of R2000 as a reward for their work.
