One dies and 62 others left homeless in a shack blaze of Marathon
There have been reports of about 54 shacks burning down, along with an unofficial business that caught fire.
As another shack fire at Marathon informal settlement leaves one dead and numerous others homeless, the City of Ekurhuleni officials expressed concerns about fire safety.
The City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) life-threatening call centre received multiple phone calls about a shack fire at 04:30 on July 29.
Once informed, DEMS activated its resources for intervention. The first arriving team of five firefighters was from Primrose Fire Station, which responded with a major pumper.
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More resources in terms of backup were requested as the fire was spreading at an alarming rate. Bedfordview Fire Station responded with five firefighters and Edenvale with four firefighters.
The two stations responded with a major pumper, medium pumper and grass unit.
Ekurhuleni Fire Department spokesperson William Ntladi said on arrival a water relay system was set up.
“Pumper nine became the main supply engine parked at corner Johann Rissik and Main reef roads. Two other fire engines aided with water shuttling.
“Twelve 65mm diameter hoses were laid, connected to three-way divider equipment with each line having two 45mm diameter hoses used to attack the blaze.
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“Team one started offensively and defensively attacking the fire on one side, team two went to the centre of the burning shacks and team three went further up where it was assumed the fire started,” said Ntladi.
“During the operation, team three discovered a body that was burned beyond recognition. Team one found a sedan vehicle that burned down.”
He said after flames were extinguished the teams performed dumping down to avoid possible reignition.
“One fatality was discovered on scene and SAPS was notified together with GPG ambulance for declaration and removal of the body to a suitable facility.
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No other injuries were accounted for on scene.
“During the operation, team three found two 48kg LPG (liquid petroleum gas) and managed to move them to a safe place. A 9kg gas bottle had already burnt.
“All teams, due to a long hose laying distance, were affected by friction loss and they could not put booster pumper due to illegal electrical connections (izinyoka-nyoka).
“The cause of the fire is undetermined and still a subject of investigation by law enforcement agencies (SAPS),” said Ntladi.
Ward 93 Clr Geoffrey Mthembu said he was notified of the event on Monday morning and promptly went to the location.
He added that the fire had an impact on roughly 67 community people.
There have been reports of about 54 shacks burning down, along with an informal business that caught fire.
“We will interact with several government departments to secure assistance for the impacted citizens. Local churches are frequently utilised as temporary shelters since the municipality is sadly unable to offer any,” said Mthembu.
On July 30, local charity organisations the Germiston Red Cross and the Bedfordview Tzu Chi Foundation offered the affected residents food, blankets, shoes and clothes.
The foundation donated rice and a goodie bag. This is part of their disaster relief programmes.
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