By Buffalo City Reporter
4 June 2008

WITH winter in full swing and an expected increase in shack fires with the cold, dry weather, the Buffalo City health department decided to target paraffin safety in Duncan Village.

It held a presentation last week, in partnership with the Paraffin Safety Association of Southern Africa (Pasasa), through which it aimed to educate people about safety precautions and risks associated with the use of paraffin appliances.

The event was attended by representatives from the City’s disaster management services, the East London Hospital Complex, the provincial department of social development and Pasasa.

Speaking at the campaign, Pasasa’s Mathew Nondlwana said there were 30 volunteers from Duncan Village in the association.

“We have equipped these volunteers with critical skills so that they can educate the people of Duncan Village on paraffin safety. We also work very closely with the Buffalo City departments of heath and disaster management so that these volunteers can get other critical skills.”

He said the annual awareness on paraffin safety had been successful as there had been a drop in the number of shack fires caused by paraffin.

Alcohol
Gavin Prins, from the East London Hospital Complex burns unit, said most of the burns treated at Frere Hospital happened during weekends; many were related to alcohol.

“The main cause of these is the abuse of alcohol; some people get drunk, go home and start cooking using paraffin. Then they fall asleep and forget about the stove. And most of the victims of this negligence are young children.”

He urged people to take paraffin safety measures seriously to avoid shack fires.

“Burns take a long time to heal and there are after-effects like traumas resulting from these burns. Some people refuse to be integrated back into their communities. To curb this we are working very closely with the department of social development to provide psychological assistance to these people,” Prins said.

“If the person can no longer make ends meet, we organise that they received a social grant from the department.”

Buffalo City’s health promotion representative, Boniswa Mzimba, said that most victims of shack fires were discriminated against by people who called them insulting names.

“Some of them are called Kentucky Fried Chicken because of the burns. I would like to urge communities to refrain from insulting shack fire victims,” Mzimba said.

Following the formalities, a local school performed a play that showed some of the discrimination victims of shack fires suffered. Buffalo City fire fighters spoke about the different ways of using paraffin appliances safely and showed people what to do when a shack fire broke out.

They were also told about the City’s 24-hour emergency number, 043 705 9000.