Fire at hijacked Ferndale property highlights bigger problem
The City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services has confirmed that one person sustained minor injuries in a fire in Ferndale
The hijacked building at the corner of Bond Street and Main Avenue in Ferndale caught fire in the early morning of June 24, resulting in the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) firefighters responding.
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Xolile Khumalo, spokesperson, explained that operations commenced immediately to contain and extinguish the blaze. One shack inside the building caught fire, but the cause is unknown. “One person suffered smoke inhalation during the incident and was treated on the scene. EMS continues to urge all Johannesburg residents to exercise extreme caution when handling electrical appliances and open flames, particularly during the winter season when fire incidents tend to increase.”
Ward 104 councillor Emi Koekemoer confirmed that this is not the first fire to break out on the premises. “There was a fire sometime back that broke out there. We warned the city that something needs to be done here. The property needs to be demolished, but they’ve done nothing about it, and once again, a fire broke out.”
Her deepest concern, at this point in time, is that Spark Randburg High School is right next door and somebody could have got severely hurt. “I really would like for the city to step in and do something about this, demolish the property, get rid of the people there. It’s not safe for them to be there.”
The ward councillor stated that the property is one of the hijacked properties in the area, and has been hijacked for over three years. “To my knowledge, it was hijacked during the Covid period. There was a demolition order in place, but due to Covid, it never got actioned. The unfortunate part is there are children and women living there. We’ve had multiple oversights and the situation there is quite dire.
“The inside of the building is sub-sectioned with wood and planks. There are no services on the premises, like water and electricity. There is a lot of plastic and rubble burning taking place.
“I get quite a lot of complaints from the community regarding the smell of burning plastic.”
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