The basement of the building was being used as a makeshift living space by residents.
Two people have died from smoke inhalation after a fire ripped through the basement of a building in Tshwane, which was used as a makeshift living space.
The fire broke out at the De Williershof residential building early on Sunday morning.
Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Nana Radebe said they received a structural fire call just after 4am.
Fire
Radebe said firefighters from Central and Hatfield Fire Stations found the De Williershof residential building (Block 1 basement) engulfed with flames and immediately started firefighting operations.
She said the incident follows a separate fire in the same building where seven rooms on the ground floor burned just hours before the second blaze.
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No casualties were reported.
“On arrival at the building’s Block 1, the firefighters’ crew started with search and rescue as the residents could not confirm if everyone had managed to evacuate the abandoned building.
“Two bodies were discovered in the basement, where the residents have converted the basement to a residential area with board divisions.
“The two people died of smoke inhalation as they could not evacuate the basement. The emergency services department’s fire safety officers will conduct preliminary investigations to determine the cause of the fire,” Radebe said.
Shack fire
Earlier this month, a fire at an informal settlement near Germiston left scores of residents homeless.
Roughly 50 shacks were destroyed in Makause informal settlement on Monday night in what community leaders allege was a failed suicide attempt.
Community leaders were on the scene throughout the day and appealed for assistance as the residents lost a substantial portion of their belongings.
Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party community leader in the Ekurhuleni region, Sifiso Luthuli, said he had received information from “fellow comrades” who reside in the informal settlement.
Luthuli said the latest information relayed to him on Tuesday morning suggested a man had aggravated other community members before allegedly starting the fire.
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