No Injuries Were Reported As Langa Fire Razed 25 Shacks and 8 Hostels to the Ground, SA Saddened

• A fire spread through the Langa township, destroying eight hostels and 25 shacks in the area
• Cape Town's fire department battled for two hours to distinguish the flames, and the cause of the fire is not known
• Nobody was injured in the fire, but 150 people were left without a home, leaving many in South Africa to worry about them

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered accidents, fires, outbreaks, nature, weather and natural disaster-related incidents at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

LANGA, CAPE TOWN—On 17 January 2025, a fire gutted 25 mkhukhus and eight hostels in Langa, Cape Town, leaving more than 140 people without a home. Thankfully, nobody was injured during the fire.

Fire leaves 150 homeless

IOL said the fire broke out on Harlem Avenue in Special Quarters. Cape Town's Fire and Rescue Service received an emergency call after 1 a.m. that shacks in the township had caught fire. Fire engines were dispatched to fight the blaze. The wind in the darkness of the night made it difficult for them to battle the fire. The Epping Fire Station called for more assistance from the City.

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The firefighters battled the blaze for two hours. More than 40 staff and 10 frontline fire resources fought the flames. Approximately 150 people were left without a home. Nobody was injured or killed by the flames. One of the community members said the fire started from a shack that was wedged between two others. Gift of the Givers stepped in to assist the fire victims with supplies.

Shack fires in 2024

• Two people lost their lives, and seven others were left homeless after a fire destroyed five shacks in an informal settlement in Cape Town in June
• Thousands were displaced when two devastating fires in Johannesburg and Pretoria destroyed homes in informal settlements
• An informal settlement in Johannesburg caught fire, and many of the shacks were gutted

South Africans weighed in

Netizens commenting on Facebook poured their hearts out to the victims.

Marina Visser said:

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"I sympathise with their loss. Is there no way to find the exact cause and seriously educate people on handling an open fire?"

Carl Taylor said:

"Stop building your shack on top of each other. They need to leave more space between buildings."

Trevor Trev-Africa said:

"Every year this time of the year."

Soyama Soyama said:

"At this time of the month. Yoh, it hurts."

Anton Geldenhuys said:

"Vote ANC again, you will always stay there. They don't care about you."

2 Toddlers die in Vosloorus blaze

In another article, Briefly News reported that two children lost their lives in a fire that broke out in a Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, fire. The children's mother was reportedly cooking with paraffin and left the stove unattended.

The mkhukhu caught fire with her two children still inside the home. Community members battled to extinguish the flames, and they were successful. However, they could not save the children's lives.

Source: Briefly News