Ekurhuleni prepared for winter shack fires
In total there are 119 informal settlements across Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality(EMM).
Ekurhuleni’s Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) held a workshop on March 28 to demonstrate safety measures that informal settlement dwellers can apply to stay safe from fires during this winter period.
In total there are 119 informal settlements across Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality(EMM).
In the past eight months, 250 dwellers were left homeless when fires destroyed their shacks.
Head of DEMS, Moshema Mosia said Gugulethu Informal Settlement has suffered the highest number of reported fire incidents.
EMM spokesperson, Mr Themba Gadebe said, “Our call log register reflects that residents call the South African Police Service (SAPS) emergency number instead of directly calling the emergency services. There is a lot of time lost between the period that SAPS diverts the call to our call centre, which impacts negatively on the arrival time to a scene,”
In case of an emergency, contact the DEMS emergency number at 011 458-0911, 10177 (national emergency number) or 112 from a cellular phone.
