The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) director, Desmond D’sa expressed his concern following the increase in fires and explosions around the Durban South communities.
The most recent fire he referred to occurred on Saturday at a warehouse on Bluff Road, which housed about 2,000 bales of lucerne or animal feed.
The warehouse burned until the next day and was under control by midday on Sunday. The SUN visited the site on Monday where they found firefighters still on the scene. They told journalists that they were monitoring the situation due to hot spots smouldering in the warehouse.
D’sa expressed his fear for the high number of fires and explosions experienced in South Durban. “There is a steady increase in fires and explosions occurring in the South Durban area and some of these fires are on premises that contain hazardous substances. As a city of eThekwini this is a worrying factor because we do not have an emergency evacuation plan,” he said.
READ: Fire engulfs Jacobs factory
According to him, having such a plan will inform eThekwini residents about what to do in cases of fires and explosions and how they can escape and save themselves from injury.
“The eThekwini Municipality has continuously ignored SDCEA’s requests to produce and implement an emergency evacuation plan and have failed to take our demands seriously. In most cases, when the fire occurs, even the fire department is unable to put out the fires, due to their lack of resources. This is worrying because they do not have the knowledge or resources on how to put out the fires and our lives are at risk – an emergency evacuation plan would assist them in these instances,” he added.
READ: Three injured in Jacobs factory chemical explosion
There have been three reported incidents in the Durban area. The first fire occurred at a chemical factory in Clairwood where three workers were injured in a fire at the plant and had to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns. The second fire occurred in the Durban CBD when shops and apartments were damaged due to a fire in a building on the corner of Denis Hurley Street and Yusuf Dadoo Street. The third fire occurred at a warehouse in the Bluff.
D’sa stressed that the emergency plan is an essential document that will not only educate and inform citizens but could possibly save the lives of those who reside and work in fire-prone areas within South Durban. “We as SDCEA urge community members and the public at large to exercise their rights and encourage the eThekwini Municipality to implement an emergency evacuation plan for our safety and peace of mind.”
Ethekwini Municipality have been emailed for comment.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 876 3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?
Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)
