FIREFIGHTERS battled for close on an hour to douse a blaze that ripped through a banana plantation in Glen Hills this afternoon. The fire ended just meters from the closest shack at the Malacca Road Informal Settlement.
The fire was brought under control much to the relief of the residents of the informal settlement and is believed to have started from an errant cigarette butt.
A firefighter from the Durban North and Ntuzuma response unit, who did not want to be named, said it had taken them close to 40 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
“We believe the fire started after a passing motorist threw his cigarette butt into the bush, unaware the saw dust was highly flammable. The people are very lucky because the agent in saw dust makes it highly combustible and though it damage a section of the resident’s plantation I’m glad we were able to put out the blaze before anyone was injured. The situation could have been a lot worse,” he said.
Residents of the informal settlement watched in horror as the fire fighters kept the flames in check preventing them from crossing over into their homes. An angry resident told the Northglen News on the scene that when one lived in an informal settlement, “fires was a normal thing”. “I cook on a fire everyday outside my house. I can go inside and forget something and the fire can then be out of control. We just lucky this time,” the woman said.
