Western Cape smoke alarm initiative keeps communities safe

The Western Cape Government’s smoke alarm initiative received another boost with recent handovers of 1705 smoke alarms for Swartland Municipality and 170 smoke alarms for the Wupperthal community in the Cederberg Municipality. The smoke alarm initiative was launched by Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, in 2016. To date, 15 200 alarms have been successfully installed in informal townships and high fire risk neighbourhoods across the province.

The smoke alarm initiative was developed by the Western Cape Fire and Rescue Services. The aim of the initiative was to prevent fire related injuries and deaths in high fire risk communities in the Western Cape. In collaboration with the Stellenbosch University’s Engineering Department, it was shown that the chances of surviving a fire may be much greater, and fire deaths and injuries reduced, if dwellings in informal settlement are fitted with smoke alarms.

According to Minister Bredell, the Western Cape has a unique set of circumstances which are compounding the risk of fatal fires in especially informal settlements. “In our informal settlements we have dwellings constructed of highly flammable materials, which are also built very close to one another. During our cold winter months people often use open fires for heating and during the windy and dry summer months candles and open stove flames are adding to the fire risk. Our research shows that people have less than 3 minutes from the start of a shack fire to the likelihood of serious burn injuries or fatalities. Because of the speed at which these fires develop and spread, our focus with the smoke alarms is for effective early detection that will save people in the first place, and property in the second place,” Minister Bredell explained.

Minister Bredell said the Swartland and Wupperthal smoke alarms adds to the total of 4325 smoke alarms which are currently due for installation, and another 3000 alarms are already in the procurement pipeline for the near future in Drakenstein, Saldanha Bay and Overstrand municipalities.

Preliminary findings suggest that these alarms have been highly effective in the communities where they have been installed, with no known fatality from a house fire been reported from the communities who have participated in the initiative to date. “The smoke alarm initiative is about more than the actual alarms, as the installation process is accompanied by fire awareness and safety training in those communities. This ultimately contributes to fire safety behavioural change, helping to keep people safe,” Minister Bredell said.