City launch winter fires safety campaign in Msawawa
KYA SAND – The City of Joburg Emergency Management Services handover Jozi safety kits to residents of Msawawa Informal Settlement.
About 250 residents in Msawawa Informal Settlement were trained to fight and extinguish a fire.
This after the City of Joburg Emergency Management Services noted with much concern the number of lives and property lost due to domestic fires during winter.
According to EMS, these accidents have led to unnecessary deaths and loss of property leaving communities in a vulnerable state.
These trained residents will help during fire incidents to avoid the loss of lives and valuables.
The City’s Members of Mayoral Council (MMCs) and the EMS launched the winter fire safety campaign in the settlement with a handover of the Jozi Safety Kits to residents on the afternoon of 1 June.
The safety Kit consists of para-safe stove (it extinguishes itself in the event of excessive movement), smoke detector –which serves as an early warning system, burn kit to treat minor burns, lantern light and 25-litre bucket – which can be used to store water and extinguish a fire.
Executive mayor Parks Tau told the residents gathered inside the tent during the launch that the City had calculated the number of people who were killed in fire incidents.
“We have also developed community emergency management team. We are bringing to you safety kits so that we can protect your family and possessions,” he said.
He further explained that the safety kits would greatly assist to put out a fire in the informal settlements.
“We should minimise the damage in our communities. People are also trained on how to do basic first aid. In that way we can prevent unnecessary death,” he said.
During winter last year, Joburg EMS responded to about 600 fire incidents within the City in both formal and informal settlements.
In most of those incidents, young children were left alone at home to look after other young children and were also given responsibility to cook for themselves.
After the launch of the programme, the mayor and members of council demonstrated how to put out a fire during these incidents.
A small shack was built and set alight as a demonstration of how the community can help while waiting for emergency vehicles to arrive at the fire scene.
Details: Joburg EMS, 011 222 8056.
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