Eight shacks gutted by fire in Diepsloot

At least eight shacks have been gutted by a fire in in Diepsloot, extension 1.

The City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) said firefighters responded to the incident on Friday morning at around 10:30am.

Displaced residents

Spokesperson Robert Muluadzi said firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze.

“About eight shacks were affected by this fire incident which left about 20 people displaced. No further injuries or fatalities were reported,” Mulaudzi said.

He said the cause of the fire is being investigated.

“Disaster management officials have been activated to start assisting the affected families and our fire safety unit will also be conducting preliminary investigations to determine what might be the cause of this fire.”

Mulaudzi urged residents to take precautions with heating devices.

“We encourage people to look after any heating devices which might cause fires at home not to leave them unattended to prevent fire incidents like this one.”

ALSO READ: Another Joburg shack fire claims a life as cold weather grips Gauteng

Shack fires

This is the fourth shack fire in Johannesburg in a matter of days after three separate fire incidents in Doornkop, George Goch and Kya Sands.

Earlier this week, a 26-year-old man died in a shack fire in Soweto.

Joburg EMS responded to a blaze in Doornkop.

Mulaudzi said firefighter made the grim discovery while searching through the rubble.

“During the search-and-rescue operation, firefighters recovered a body of a 26-year-old man, he succumbed to smoke inhalation he was confirmed dead on scene. No other injuries were reported during this fire incident and the cause of the fire incident is still a subject of investigations.”

In the George Goch incident, three shacks caught fire and after extinguishing the blaze, firefighters discovered a body of a man who died from his burn wounds.

The fire in Kya Sands gutted 10 shacks. One person suffered fire wounds and was rushed to hospital.

Joburg EMS said the cause of the fires is still under investigation by EMS inspectors.

ALSO READ: Joburg shack fires claims four lives, including that of a child