Four families lose everything in Katutura shack fire

FOUR shacks with 11 rooms burned down in the Okuryangava informal settlement in Katutura on Saturday morning.

Four families lost all their belongings in the fire and only escaped with the clothes on their backs. Linda Nambula said she was in her shack when she smelled something like plastic burning.She immediately went out to investigate and saw her neighbours sitting in front of their kambashu selling vegetable and fruit.Upon approaching them she saw some smoke coming from their kambashu.The people tried to extinguish the fire but the wind caused it to spread to adjacent shacks.Nambula said she heard a baby crying from inside one shack and alerted the mother, who ran into the flames and saved her child.The mother sustained slight burns.The community brought what little water they had in their shacks to pour onto the fire but the nearest water point is far and the water has to be paid for with a water card.Olavinus Nambambi, who lives nearby, grabbed his fire extinguisher when he saw the smoke and jumped into a taxi to get to the scene to help.He said he had written to the City of Windhoek numerous times, asking for fire extinguishers for volunteer firefighters in the community.He said there were more than enough people willing to volunteer and he would co-ordinate the effort.Amanda Goagoses, who lost everything to the fire, said: “When the fire spread to our house we were carrying our grandmother to safety and when we returned everything was in flames.Our water card was also in the fire and we could not even buy water to save our belongings.”The fire was eventually extinguished by the Windhoek Fire Brigade.Linda Nambula said she was in her shack when she smelled something like plastic burning.She immediately went out to investigate and saw her neighbours sitting in front of their kambashu selling vegetable and fruit.Upon approaching them she saw some smoke coming from their kambashu.The people tried to extinguish the fire but the wind caused it to spread to adjacent shacks.Nambula said she heard a baby crying from inside one shack and alerted the mother, who ran into the flames and saved her child.The mother sustained slight burns.The community brought what little water they had in their shacks to pour onto the fire but the nearest water point is far and the water has to be paid for with a water card.Olavinus Nambambi, who lives nearby, grabbed his fire extinguisher when he saw the smoke and jumped into a taxi to get to the scene to help.He said he had written to the City of Windhoek numerous times, asking for fire extinguishers for volunteer firefighters in the community.He said there were more than enough people willing to volunteer and he would co-ordinate the effort.Amanda Goagoses, who lost everything to the fire, said: “When the fire spread to our house we were carrying our grandmother to safety and when we returned everything was in flames.Our water card was also in the fire and we could not even buy water to save our belongings.”The fire was eventually extinguished by the Windhoek Fire Brigade.