A pregnant woman was killed and more than 300 people displaced after a fire destroyed more than 100 homes at the Kenville informal settlement in the Sea Cow Lake area of Durban on Sunday.
eThekwini Municipality said the fire broke out at 12.30am. “The City is currently coordinating temporary relief efforts for displaced residents.”
According to the municipality, the City’s Fire and Emergency Services unit immediately responded to a fire.
“The City said a team of 30 firefighters were dispatched to the scene with eight fire engines,” adding that the firefighters worked tirelessly until the fire was successfully extinguished.
eThekwini Fire Department northern region division commander, Bruce de Gier, said the fire was very bad and the conditions “horrific”.
“The challenges were horrific in that it was a very large-scale incident that required large numbers of men and equipment, and we struggled with access and water supply. Therefore it took about five to six hours to complete the incident,” he said.
De Gier said many people escaped in front of the fire and while many tried to get their belongings out, everybody got out other than a pregnant woman who was trapped.
He said he called two fire vehicles from the western and two from the southern regions to back them up.
“We don't deplete our whole region to deal with a big incident, we use half of our resources and then because of the difficulties with water carrier and water supply I had to bring vehicles in from the other two regions,”said De Gier.
De Gier added he was thankful that it was not windy as the situation could have been ten times worse.
The City said a full sweep and thorough search by fire and rescue teams was conducted throughout the early hours of the morning, to ensure that no one was trapped.
“The cause of fire is unknown at this stage and an investigation is underway. Preliminary assessments to determine the damage and extent of the required relief intervention is underway,”said the municipality.
The City estimates that more than 100 informal units were gutted and about 300 people displaced.
“Those who suffered minor injuries were treated by medical personnel on site.”
The City confirmed that one fatality was reported.
Former ward 34 councillor, Ashok Maharajh, who resigned in May to take care of his sick wife, said there is support pouring in from different directions.
“It might take a bit of time for the city to allocate the money to buy the materials but as soon as that comes in, new shacks will go up. I contacted a friend of mine who does a lot of charity work to reach out to the ward committee to offer assistance,” he said.
Maharajh said he would visit the settlement to assess the situation and ensure that the residents are not left on their own and that they are protected. “They have been traumatised enough, this has been a bad fire.”
He said according to the ward committee’s assessments 225 informal houses have been destroyed and 347 people affected including 89 children.
Elham Hatfield, a community member, who works with communities in Durban North and surrounding areas and coordinates relief efforts, said they have already activated the community to donate necessary items to assist those affected by the fire.
Aslam Esa from The Gift of The Givers said he went to the area to conduct an assessment.
“The need is blankets, food and mattresses and eThekwini disaster management is covering this for all those affected. We are on standby if anything else is required,” he said.
The Mercury