Informal settlement receives 100 winter fire safety kits

21 June 2017

 

The residents of Embuzini informal settlement in Mlamlankunzi, Soweto, on Tuesday June 20 became the fourth set of recipients of the Jozi safety kits after City of Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety Cllr Michael Sun launched the City’s 2017 Winter Fire Safety Campaign this month.

 

The safety kits – which include a para-safe stove, burn kit to treat minor burns, solar lantern light, paraffin container with a safety cap, smoke detector, fire retard spray and a 7.25l bucket ‎to store water – are handed over to safety teams in the various informal settlements to help prevent deadly fires, particularly during the cold winter season.

Every year the City’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) Department distributes 1 000 safety kits to various vulnerable communities across Johannesburg. This year, 475 safety kits have already been handed out to communities in Zandspruit in Region C; Kliptown, Soweto, in Region D, Moriting in Region G; and now Embuzini, Soweto, in Region D.

EMS spends R1-million annually on the purchase and distribution of the safety kits. The intervention was initiated in 2009. The handover of the safety kits is often preceded by the establishment and training of safety teams in basic firefighting and First Aid in each informal settlement. Residents are also made aware of the dangers caused by the usage of unsafe heat sources such as braziers and makeshift heaters.

The other vulnerable communities in line to receive the safety kits during this year’s Winter Fire Safety Campaign are Lusaka in Emndeni, Soweto; and Tladi, also in Soweto (Region D); Alexandra Women’s Hostel in Region E; Diepsloot in Region A; Rose Acres and Princess Maponya, both in Jeppestown (Region F); Mangolongolo in Denver (Region F); and George Goch (also in Region F).

Speaking during the handover of 100 safety kits, EMS Media Liaison Officer Robert Mulaudzi said the ongoing annual initiative, which was aimed at creating a safer Johannesburg, had resulted in a significant reduction in the number of fires, fatalities and injuries in Johannesburg’s vulnerable communities every year.

“We’re empowering residents to deal with some of the emergencies before we, as the professionals, arrive on the scene. This is part of our initiative of building resilient communities, communities that are capable of dealing with any emergency that might occur,” Mulaudzi said.

“Many of these fires are preventable if only residents could use proper cooking and lighting equipment and know how to identify the risks in their households and remove them.”