Two boys dead after shack caught fire
Parents are urged not to leave young children unattended.
The parents of two small children who left them alone in their shack while they went out drinking at a local tavern in Roodepoort’s Princess informal settlement, came home to find their children dead.
In the midnight hours of Sunday, 25 March, the two young children, aged between four and six, were asleep in their shack when they succumbed to smoke inhalation and were burnt beyond recognition when their shack caught fire.
City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi said, “We would like to urge parents to refrain from leaving young children unattended while they are out, because they might be tempted to prepare food for themselves which might make them vulnerable to fire incidents at home. We will be intensifying our fire safety Door to Door campaigns since winter is slowly approaching us and would therefore like to urge our residents to exercise extreme caution when using any heating devices at home, and not to leave them unattended, in order to prevent such devastating fire incidents.”
According to Mulaudzi, the City of Johannesburg EMS Public Education Department has, over the years, been instrumental in assisting the organisation to reduce the loss of life through pro-active fire and life safety educational programmes such as the Pre-Winter Awareness Week, Post Winter and International Fire Awareness Week. In the past, the implementation of the Door to Door campaign has proven to be successful with a reduction in the number of fire incidents and fatalities throughout the City of Johannesburg, especially in the informal settlements, which are the most vulnerable communities during the winter.
City of Johannesburg residents are encouraged to use our BESAFE Centres, which are mostly based within Fire Stations, to learn more about our Fire and Life Safety Educational programmes and other services which are offered at these centres, which operate from Monday to Friday, between 8am and 4pm.
For more information on Life and Fire Safety educational programmes, contact Robert Mulaudzi on 011 222 8288, or 083 319 9036 or email him atrobertmul@joburg.org.za.
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