The Working on Fire Programme

Support to Structural Fire-Fighters in Shack Fires in Khayelitsha, Cape Town

Guy Preston

A forlorn effort to quell the flames. Shack-dwellers often risk their lives to save their possessions. They can lose everything, including difficult-to-replace documents, in such fires. Most victims have little by way of saving, insurance or alternatives, and (already poor) must start over again.

1,200 shacks were lost to a fire in the Joe Slovo settlement, near the Cape Town Airport, in early 2000. The Ukuvuka Campaign dropped the number of shack fires to virtually zero over the next two years. I wrote to President Mandela (our Patron), telling him of the success. The next day, over 1,000 shacks were burned.

11:25

Camera has picked up fire in Khayelitsha. It’s programmed to display exactly where it occurs – down to the exact block/street – using artificial intelligence. The time is recorded as11h25.

11:30

An aerial photograph of the fire, 5 minutes after camera detection, and 15 minutes after ignition.

11:30

A close-up picture of the fire that has started in a shack.

11:32

The strength of the wind is obvious from this picture, and poses a real risk to shacks down-wind.

11:32

The first fire-engine arrives 7 minutes after detection – an excellent response time.

11:35The fire spreads, blown by the wind, and fuelled by the closely packed shacks.

11:35

The intensity of the fire can be surmised by the fact that the fire-engine hoses are not in use.

11:35

The intensity of the fire grows, just five minutes after the spotter aircraft first took photos.

11:50

The first Working on Fire bomber drops its load of water and fire-retardant chemicals.

11:50A close-up photo of the same drop by the Working on Fire bomber.

11:53

The second drop by a Working on Fire bomber.

12:07

The third drop by a Working on Fire bomber.

12:15

The Working on Fire helicopter takes longer to get to the fire, but is more flexible in dropping its load, and re-waters quicker than the bombers, which must fly back to base.

12:18Less than one hour after ignition, Working on Fire aerial capacity had enabled the structural fire-

fighters to mop up the fire. An estimated 13 shacks were lost, whereas hundreds or even a thousand could have been lost. The residents called us the “angels from the sky”.

The Department of Environmental Affairs’ Working on Fire and Eco-Furniture

programmes are now partnering with a local NGO, the Stellenbosch Municipality, and other partners, to see how the design and materials used in informal settlement “shacks” can help to inhibit the spread of

fires.

The structure in this picture was built by the NGO, Design Change, in Hout Bay, for the same price as the shacks below. (The owner then built the bottom section

himself. It should last for >30 years.)

In-situ conversion of a shack to a structure, by Design Change. Strong owner participation in design options. The intention is to use cement-fibre board (using invasive biomass) and not zinc for walls in the structures.

The shack burns (#2, centre), but does not escape from the cement-fibre board structure (#3, right).

The three test structures were left standing (right). See the video on http://youtu.be/s-QaQ9tRVRI.

The Department of Environmental Affairs’ Working on Fire and Eco-Furniture programmes partnered with Design Change, the

Stellenbosch Municipality, and other partners, to test the design. The purpose was to test if the cement-fibre board structures would burn, when a fire starts in the structure (#3 vs #2), or sweeps through to the structure (#8 vs #7). Right is Minister Molewa with a window-

shutter that inhibits oxygen flow & the spreading of the fire.