Fire fighters responded to the blaze at the informal settlement on Thursday afternoon. Photo: Joburg Emergency Services
At least 30 shacks have been destroyed in a fire in Kya Sands, north of Johannesburg on Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters responded to the blaze in an informal settlement.
Johannesburg Emergency Services (EMS) Robert Mulaudzi said the cause of the fire is being investigated.
“We are looking at about 30 [whom] have been affected by this fire incident. Also, we are looking at about 60 people who were left displaced.
“Our disaster management officials are already on-site facilitating relief for [the] affected families and also to look at the emergency shelter,” Mulaudzi said.
Mulaudzi said no injuries were reported.
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Mulaudzi urged residents to take precautions when using heating appliances.
“We want to encourage our residents to continue to look after any heating devices which might cause fire incidents at home and not to leave them unattended so that we are able to prevent fire incidents like this one.”
The City of Johannesburg has seen a number of shack fires during July and August, with incidents also reported in Fleurhof and Zandspruit which claimed the lives of three people.
Earlier this month, four people died in two separate shack fire incidents in the City of Johannesburg.
At the time, Mulaudzi said the tragic incidents took place in the early hours of the morning when the city was experiencing a cold front.
“The first fire incident was reported in Orange Farm around 1am where an adult male lost his life when his backroom shack caught fire.
“In another shack fire incident reported around 3am on the same day in Matholesville, a family of three (two adults and one child) lost their lives when their five-bedroom shack caught fire,” he said.
Mulaudzi said no other injuries were reported in either incident and the cause of the fire was still the subject of investigations.
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