Blazes continue to hit Setswetla

Eight shacks were burnt beyond repair when a fire broke out in the Setswetla Informal Settlement in Alexandra on the afternoon of May 26.

“On Friday, around 16:00 to 17:00, I smelled smoke while I was inside my house and I thought let me go outside and check what is happening. As a ward committee member, I’m not supposed to even wait to be called if something is happening. Then when I went outside it was chaos people were screaming and some running fetching water trying to put out the fire.

I had to call the patrollers to come and help and they did come and help but the fire was powerful, so we called the fire department and when they came, they saw that we already controlled most of the fire and took it from there,” said Jane Mogale, ward committee member and patroller in Setswetla.

Due to the blaze, some residents suffered from smoke inhalation-a dangerous condition where victims breathe in the toxic plumes from a fire. They fainted but were soon taken and attended to by the paramedics. It is suspected that the fire started in one of the shacks due to electrical appliances not being turned off during load-shedding. The affected families have since found temporary shelter with family and friends.

“It was load-shedding and when the electricity came back on it seems like one of the residents forgot to switch off her stove which is located near her bed. She went out with her child, and we suspect the bed caught fire and that is how the fire started,” said Patrick Chauke.

According to Mogale the affected residents couldn’t save any of their belongings in the fire. “We are asking for donations from anyone who can assist with clothes, food, blankets, or anything anyone can afford because the fire burned everything, even their Identity Documents (ID). Now we have to do new ones for them because a person cannot stay without an ID,” Mogale said.

Related Article:

Two dead from Setswetla weekend fire in Alexandra