​'No two winters are the same and our Fire & Rescue Service is gearing up to attend to thousands of calls. While figures for 2018 showed a drop in incidents from the year before that, there was a significant increase during the last winter period,' said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

From May to August 2018, the service responded to 7 038 calls. During the same period last year, they attended to 7 954 calls.

For the previous years, fire fatalities had dropped from 159 in 2018 to 113 in 2019.

‘However, we have just emerged from a devastating summer period during which 91 people died (from November to March) in formal and informal housing fires and I can only implore residents to be extremely cautious and to make every effort to safeguard their homes. Winter tends to be when most structural fires occur and our service is bracing for a busy time,' said Alderman Smith. 

Firefighters work closely with local communities to increase fire safety awareness to help prevent fires and accidents from happening.

'The City works continuously to increase education and awareness in communities, but residents have a role to play to ensure that they mitigate the risk of fires starting in the first place by adhering to good safety practices. There is always a risk of fire, but the prevention requires a collective effort. We cannot do it alone. I want to appeal to residents, regardless of whether they reside in informal settlements or formal residences, to take the necessary precautions to reduce the risk of fires in their community. Communities must be vigilant and work with us to reduce the number of preventable fires,' said Alderman Smith.
To prevent fires from starting or spreading:

• always keep an eye on any open flames or cooking/heating devices
• keep children and pets away from devices like heaters and lighters
• do not leave open fires unattended
• make sure that your home has no illegal electrical connections and plugs are not overloaded
• keep the area around your home clear of materials that can ignite or spread a fire

Fires can be reported to the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre by dialling 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or 107 from a landline.

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