A fire broke out in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay, Cape town in the early hours of Tuesday September 8, 2026 around 1:30 AM. The fire destroyed nearly 50 informal structures. The Fire and Rescue Services immediately responded after being alerted to structures on fire on Hughenden Street.
To tackle the blaze, the organization sent 40 firefighters along with an Incident Management Team Type 4 to manage the situation effectively. Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson of the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services shared that around 7:45 firefighters managed to control the blaze.
Carelse said, “At approximately 7:45 am, firefighters had contained the blaze”. He further explained that in the preliminary reports officials found that around 50 informal structures were destroyed in the blaze. According to reports, firefighters and emergency personnel also took help from the Law enforcement officers to handle interferences created by the community individuals from the incident area.
Moreover, Carelse also mentioned that two fire fighters received minor injuries but they got medical attention on the scene and no other serious injuries and fatalities were reported. Carelse said, “Two firefighters sustained minor injuries during firefighting operations and were treated on scene, neither required transportation to hospital. No further injuries or fatalities have been reported”.
The cause of the fire that broke out in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay remains unknown. One of the survivors, Rederick Kaikungwa also lost his home in the blaze. He shared that in the fire they lost everything and now they have to rebuild their life from scratch.
Kaukungwa stated, “It’s all gone, and now that we lost everything, we have to think of how we are going to rebuild our lives, starting with the roof over our heads”.
Notably, on Monday September 7, 2026 another fire broke out in the Overcome Heights informal settlement. The blaze approximately destroyed 60 informal dwellings and 180 people were affected by the blaze.
Following Monday’s fire, Charlotte Powell spokesperson for Disaster Risk Management stated that Disaster Risk Management in collaboration with Sassa and the National Department of Human Settlements will provide the required aid to affected individuals.