How to prevent shack fires this winter
Kwatsaduza – The annual Pre-Winter Fires Safety Awareness Campaign has officially been launched to help educate local residents on how to prevent shack fires this coming winter.
Under this year’s theme, ‘Be Safe and Stay Alive’, the Disaster and Emergency Management Services officials and members of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) conducted door-to-door visits around informal settlements of Ekurhuleni, where community members were taught about different types of fires and how gas fires cannot be extinguished with water, as one would with any other fire, because of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
Residents were also reminded about the dangers of putting candles, heaters, braziers, gas stoves and paraffin stoves close to curtains or any other easily flammable items.
“This annual fire safety campaign is aimed at improving the community’s preparedness and enhancing their resilience to coping with crisis situations as devastating fire related incidents in informal settlements can only be prevented when people are educated about the dangers of heating sources and are equipped with the knowledge of how to handle them,” says Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Community Safety Clr Vivian Chauke.
The CERT members, who are also residents in the informal settlements, also encouraged residents to always have water or sand stored in buckets so that they can effectively extinguish a fire before it spreads.
“I have come to realise how vulnerable my shack was because I have been always using a faulty paraffin stove and leaving it unattended.
“Today’s lesson exposed my ignorance and opened my eyes on how heating sources, if not properly utilised, may lead to devastating consequences,” says Rebecca Mgijima, a resident at the Makause informal settlement.
Some fire safety tips that could help you to prevent a fire in your home include:
n Do not leave pots unattended on a stove.
n Ensure that your stoves and candles are well balanced and cannot fall over at any time, especially when lit.
n Make sure that you do not leave your home or fall asleep while your candles, heaters, braziers or paraffin stoves are still switched on.
n Do not leave your children alone in the shack while these items are on as it might endanger them.
n Educate children about the dangers of a fire and what they should do if they find themselves in a dangerous situation.
