About a hundred shacks were destroyed in a fire on Sunday evening at the Joe Slovo informal settlement near Langa on the Cape Flats, Cape Town disaster risk management said.
”We were very fortunate that we have fire-detection cameras and the alarm was sounded. We deployed 19 fire engines and a helicopter with a mountain bucket. We had the fire under control in two hours,” said spokesperson Greg Pillay.
The fire broke out just before sunset near Vanguard Drive along the N2.
”The flames seen on the camera show that it was quite intense,” Pillay said.
The fire broke out at about 5.50pm, destroying shacks and displacing about 250 people.
Homeless residents were offered the Langa community hall as accommodation but elected to stay with friends and neighbours in the settlement.
No people were injured. The cause of the fire was not yet known. — Sapa