Officials investigate cause of fire at illegally occupied building

The City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Services is investigating the cause of a fire at an illegally occupied abandoned house in Albertina, east of Johannesburg, this morning.

Ekurhuleni EMS spokesperson Erick Moloka says the fire has been contained and there are no injuries or fatalities

“With the backup from station 12 (Kempton Park and station 15 in Farrarmere), they effectively contained the fire from spreading to other structures. They continued with the damping down and the fire was put to rest. Search and rescue was done and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is suspected to be illegal occupants and our fire safety official will further investigate.”

Informal settlement residents warned to exercise fire safety as winter sets in: