Families displaced after shack fire

THE wild shack fire that zipped through over 100 homes in Msawawa informal settlement, north of Johannesburg, yesterday started about five meters away from a communal tap.

A cooking stove is said to have exploded from a locked shack in the afternoon. The neighbours rushed to fill their buckets with water to put out the blaze, but ten minutes later, the fire had burnt down three more shacks. In panic, people from nearby shacks began emptying their homes to save important items.

An hour later the fire had flattened more than 100 shacks. No injuries were reported. Fire-fighters looked overwhelmed as they battled to put out the blaze. Their engines could not access shacks because of the narrow roads.

Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokeswoman Nana Radebe said over 100 shacks were destroyed and investigation would be launched into the cause of fire.

“We will work with the councillor to establish how many people have been affected. They will be accommodated elsewhere overnight and also be fed,” said Radebe.

Patrick Mnisi, from Mozambique, stood on top of the charred corrugated iron sheets that were his home when he left for work earlier yesterday.

He looked shocked and somewhat defeated.

“Everything that I ever owned in the ten years that I ’ ve lived here is burnt. My passport, ID and even my car engine is destroyed. What am I going to do with my car now?” he asked, hopelessly. He had sent his car to a panel-beater a few days ago.

Mnisi was at work when he received a call that his house had caught fire.

Msawawa is part of Kya Sands informal settlement and is mostly occupied by foreign nationals.

sifilel@sowetan.co.za