DURBAN - It was a bleak end to the year for nine families who lost their possessions when a fire swept through an informal settlement in Clare Estate, Durban on Thursday.
Residents of the Russia informal settlement on Chiltern Drive reacted quickly to stop the fire from spreading through the entire settlement. They began moving some of the valuables from the houses and using buckets of water to contain the fire.
Thuso Fulumane, of Port Shepstone, said he lost R3 000. The father of four had withdrawn the money so that he could spend New Year’s with his family back home. He hid the money together with his ID inside the shack when he left to seek work. Fulumane broke down in tears when he arrived to see his shack destroyed by a fire. He found that half of the notes were burnt.
He said some of the residents were not at home when the fire began. Most are from other African countries.
The eThekwini Fire and Emergency Department’s divisional commander, Sifiso Mtshali, said when they arrived up to 16 shacks were alight and the fire was spreading. He said some shacks in the vicinity were built over fire hydrants that hampered the crew from extinguishing the fire quickly.
“We did a routine sweep of the area to check if anyone was missing or stuck under the rubble. No injuries or deaths were reported at the scene.”
Max Shumba took to Facebook to congratulate the firefighters.
“Great thanks to the eThekwini Municipality and the fire department for your response to the fire. The was not much damage only few houses was burnt down. Keep up the good work. Great thanks to the community to for their unity in response to the fire as they were rushing with buckets of water. Unity, Uniformity, oneness.”
Daily News