Residents urged to be vigilant in the cold

IN AN effort to curb the spread of house fires during the cold front peak, the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services called on residents to be cautious when trying to stay warm and especially when using inventive methods to keep warm.

The warning comes as temperatures plummeted across the Cape Peninsula and sporadic snow fell on

Table Mountain this weekend. But while some enjoyed the sight of snow on Table Mountain, six people, including a toddler, lost their lives when their homes, some of them informal structures, caught alight over the past few days.

The most tragic recent incidents took place yesterday, when four people died in two separate fires in Khayelitsha and Dunoon.

Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said: “Four people died in two separate incidents in Khayelitsha and Dunoon, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Carelse said: “Experience has shown that winter is the time when there is an increased risk of structural fires, especially as people try to stay warm. We, of course, always try to push the messaging of fire safety in communities across the Cape.

“We urge people to not only ensure that cooking fires are extinguished properly, but to also keep sand buckets and a bucket of water handy and extinguish all candles and lamps before going to sleep or leaving home,” added Carelse.

Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said that a death inquest had been registered for investigation after three bodies were found yesterday morning at Qandu Temporals, Green Point, Khayelitsha.

“The causes of the fires have yet to be determined, ” said Van Wyk.