Rx Fire A fire that ripped through the Joe Slovo Park informal settlement destroyed 62 shacks on Sunday April 6.
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What initially appeared to be fireflies lighting up Joe Slovo Park turned out to be fire particles rising into the dark morning sky.
In the early morning hours of Sunday April 6, Joe Slovo Park’s residents were woken up by the smell of fire, and neighbours called out for help as their homes went up in flames.
A video circulating on the community’s WhatsApp group shows people, including children, shouting for help. One man can be heard asking, “Why must this happen to us?”
According to the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue services spokesman, Jermaine Carelse, firefighters received a call just after 3am about informal structures that were alight in Joe Slovo Park in Milnerton, on Sunday April 6, near Nisiki Street.
He added that 13 vehicles responded to the call and battled the blaze for just over four hours. The flames were all extinguished just after 8am. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
Charlotte Powell, the City’s Disaster Risk Management spokesperson, said at least 62 structures were destroyed in the fire, leaving hundreds of people destitute.
The ward councillor, Anthony Benadie, said he is assisting the families as far as he can with the help of the City’s Disaster Risk Management Department. He said the community is receiving relief support, but donations of clothes and food are appreciated.
“This is a very tragic incident. Hundreds of residents have lost all their possessions. The saddest is the many school children who have lost all their books. Many residents also lost their ID documents.”
If you would like to help the fire victims, you can call Anthony Benadie at 078 288 5155.
Rx Fire Ward councillor Anthony Benadie encouraged the public to help the fire victims with any donation of food and clothes
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