Kill that fire – instantly - defenceWeb defenceweb.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from defenceweb.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sounding the alarm on shack fire losses
25 Jan 2021 A tech solution to fires in informal settlements comes with insurance that pays out the victims of these blazes
More than 1 100 homes were destroyed in the fire that raged through Masiphumelele informal settlement near Fish Hoek in Cape Town last month. The devastating blaze displaced 5 000 people. The fire was only one of the 177 to hit informal settlements in the city last year.
But the Cape Town blazes are only an indication of a much larger problem. According to the most recent countrywide statistics from the Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa (FPASA), there were 5 283 shack fires during the 2016-17 municipal reporting year. Households lost almost R180-million as a result of these fires.