Towards Understanding Fire Causes in Informal Settlements Based on Inhabitant Risk Perception

Abstract

Informal settlements (ISs) are a high-risk environment in which fires are often seen. In 2019 alone, 5544 IS fires were reported in South Africa. One of the main problems, when investigating an IS fire, is determining the fire cause. In the last 15 years, approximately 40% of the fire causes were classified as ‘undetermined’ in South Africa. Furthermore, the cases where the fire causes have been determined, do not provide the necessary information to comprehend why the fire started. This paper seeks to gain better insight with respect to fire causes by analysing the fire risk perception of IS inhabitants. To this end, a survey that was conducted in 2017, consisting of data from 2178 IS households, that were affected by a large-scale fire, was analysed. The survey consisted of questions relating to the fire risk perception with regards to the settlement in general, to the inhabitants’ own household, and about measures that could reduce fire risk. The analysis suggests that (a) the survey’s risk target had a strong influence on risk perception, (b) the inhabitants’ fire risk perception of their settlement is similar to that of firefighters in previous research, (c) the risk mitigation demands are more focused on decreasing the consequences of the fire than on the occurrence of a fire event, (d) the national fire statistics are not capturing the causes of real fire incidents, and (e) improvements to the documentation process after a fire event could provide critical information for the implementation of prevention measures.

Understanding Resilience Capitals, Agency and Habitus in Household Experiences of Water Scarcity, Floods and Fire in Marginalized Settlements in the Cape Flats, South Africa

“…Informal settlements around Cape Town are also at high risk of destructive, runaway fires (Pharoah, 2014;Kahanji et al, 2019;Flores Quiroz et al, 2021). Although fires have long been a problem in neighbourhoods with inadequate access to formal electrical connections, the increasing frequency of dry conditions and high winds combine to make fire weather more likely and thus fires become both more frequent and potentially more destructive (Williams et al, 2019).…”

Measuring fire risk perception of residents before and after a fire

“…South African informal settlers perceive open fire cooking and settlement density as the greatest hazard for fire ignitions and irresponsible drinking in IY (Flores Quiroz et al, 2021;Zweig et al, 2018). However, implementing electrical cooking and settlement density reduction requires a multi-stakeholder approach.…”

“…Recently, Dupey & Smith (2019) found that a wildfire can trigger residents to participate in risk mitigation behaviours. Flores Quiroz et al (2021) disputed this claim after they investigated fire risk perception in Imizamo Yethu (IY) but focused on what the elements residents believe cause fire in IY, not how they perceive the hazard of fire itself. Few studies have empirical data collected on residents' fire perception before and directly after a fire event.…”

‘It Means We are Not Safe’: Understanding and Learning from Household Experiences of Water Scarcity, Flood and Fire in Marginalized Settlements in the Cape Flats, South Africa

“…Informal settlements around Cape Town are also at high risk of destructive, runaway fires (Pharoah, 2014;Olivier and Eksteen, 2017;Walls, Zweig and Pharoah, 2017;Kahanji, Walls and Cicione, 2019;Flores Quiroz, Walls and Cicione, 2021a;Flores Quiroz, Walls and Cicione, 2021b). Although fires have long been a problem in neighbourhoods with inadequate access to formal electrical connections, the increasing frequency of dry conditions and high winds combine to make fire weather more likely and thus fires become both more frequent and potentially more destructive (Williams et al,2019).…”