The City of Joburg’s emergency management services (EMS) says it has has noted with concern the warning from the SA Weather Services of the significant drop in temperature in most parts of the City of Johannesburg for the upcoming weekend.
Joburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said the drop in temperatures means residents throughout the city will be tempted to use all sorts of heating devices to warm themselves against the extremely cold temperatures.
He said in attempting to get warm, residents become vulnerable to fire incidents in their homes.
“We therefore would like to urge all our residents to use all heating devices safely, that is heaters, imbaula, paraffin stoves, and candles – not to to leave them unattended while in use to prevent fire incidents at home during these extremely cold temperatures,” said Mulaudzi.
Among several tips shared to encourage safety, the Joburg EMS appealed to residents to keep burning candles out of reach of children and pets; do not leave young children unattended in a room with a lit candle; and to store candles, matches and lighters away from the reach of children.
Residents have also been urged to use safe containers to store paraffin, to avoid illegal connection of electricity and to report incidents of illegal electricity connection.
“Do not leave a heater unattended while in use, it might cause fire at home,” said Mulaudzi.
“We have our disaster management monitoring teams in all seven regions of the City of Johannesburg together with all our 29 fire station crews on high alert to ensure that we effectively respond to all emergencies which occur during the cold front.”
On Thursday, IOL reported that Thulasizwe Buthelezi, the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) in KwaZulu-Natal has issued a warning to citizens about severe weather conditions that are due to affect vast sections of the province from Friday.
The South Africa Weather Service has also issued a level 6 disruptive snow warning for sections of the Uthukela, Harry Gwala, and uMgungundlovu Districts.
These weather conditions endanger lives and may result in temporary road closures due to ice accumulation, disrupting traffic on vital routes.
“Spring cut-off low to bring about snow, very cold, wet and windy conditions to southern and eastern South Africa this weekend ... Bitterly cold daytime temperatures of 4 to 8°C can be expected over the high-lying areas of the Eastern Cape, the eastern Free State, and the interior of KZN, where widespread snowfall is likely,” SA Weather Service said.
People in these locations are recommended to take all necessary precautions, including delaying needless travels, because the risk of entrapment due to frozen roadways is extremely high.
IOL