Tragic fire in Sea Point: One man dead after blaze

Grant

Grant

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An adult man has died after a fire tore through an apartment building in High Level Road, Sea Point, on Thursday afternoon.

The City of Cape Town's Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to the blaze at approximately 15:30, prompting a large response from several fire stations. Firefighters arrived to find the fire burning on the top floor of the building before it spread, causing the roof and staircase to collapse.

Emergency medical personnel performed CPR on the male resident who lived on the top floor, but he was declared deceased at 16:35 after resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
One firefighter sustained injuries during the incident and was transported to hospital for further treatment.
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fire started around 3.30pm

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82K views · 546 reactions | 🟡Firefighters remain on scene battling a blaze at an apartment building (The Dorchester) on High Level Road, Sea Point. Crews were alerted to the fire at around 3:30pm and firefighters from several stations, supported by t

🟡Firefighters remain on scene battling a blaze at an apartment building (The Dorchester) on High Level Road, Sea Point. Crews were alerted to the fire at around 3:30pm and firefighters from several...
web.facebook.com web.facebook.com
 
Grant said:
fire started around 3.30pm

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82K views · 546 reactions | 🟡Firefighters remain on scene battling a blaze at an apartment building (The Dorchester) on High Level Road, Sea Point. Crews were alerted to the fire at around 3:30pm and firefighters from several stations, supported by t

🟡Firefighters remain on scene battling a blaze at an apartment building (The Dorchester) on High Level Road, Sea Point. Crews were alerted to the fire at around 3:30pm and firefighters from several...
web.facebook.com web.facebook.com
Click to expand...
How useless is the fire department?
 
Scary stuff! I am the caretaker in our building, and sometimes wonder if I would ever be willing or needed to intervene. Our block is reinforced concrete, brick walls, and a flat slab roof. Much less chance for the fire to spread, or cause structural damage. I see a lot of new blocks with sloped roofs (wooden trusses).

Edit: I see from Google street view, and Grant's videos, that the building probably has/had a flat roof (correction, probably not concrete slab). The fire must have burned strongly for many hours, for this to weaken and collapse. I wonder how much combustible material there is in the average apartment, to sustain a fire this long? Google says Art Deco buildings have a slightly pitched roof (behind the facade), so this would not have been flat concrete. Also looks like some modernisation work over the years.

We always joke around the annual inspection/service period, but there are buildings with higher risk. Interestingly our insurance assessor last month checked all of the hose reels and portable extinguishers. Not because we were in bad condition (quite the opposite), but part of a 'random' survey to check real-world risk compliance.
 
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I've had a house fire. Get yourself a couple of fire extinguishers. Keep one in the kitchen. They are amazing at putting fires out. The fire brigade was amazed that we put the fire out before they got there.
 
Claymore said:
I've had a house fire. Get yourself a couple of fire extinguishers. Keep one in the kitchen. They are amazing at putting fires out. The fire brigade was amazed that we put the fire out before they got there.
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Our block of 36 flats has 19 portable extinguishers (4.5kg), and 12 hose reels. In theory this should be enough to contain a fire. In practice the key is early access, which is a slight problem if there is only one doorway entrance, and there is nobody at home...

Evacuation should not be a problem, with open walkways and dual staircases. Enclosed walkways and staircases pose different kinds of hazards...

We also have a few flats with gas stoves (9kg bottles). No ways am I going anywhere near that if it catches fire. Which reminds me, I don't actually know exactly which ones have gas...
 
Gordon_R said:
Scary stuff! I am the caretaker in our building, and sometimes wonder if I would ever be willing or needed to intervene. Our block is reinforced concrete, brick walls, and a flat slab roof. Much less chance for the fire to spread, or cause structural damage. I see a lot of new blocks with sloped roofs (wooden trusses).

Edit: I see from Google street view, and Grant's videos, that the building probably has/had a flat roof (correction, probably not concrete slab). The fire must have burned strongly for many hours, for this to weaken and collapse. I wonder how much combustible material there is in the average apartment, to sustain a fire this long? Google says Art Deco buildings have a slightly pitched roof (behind the facade), so this would not have been flat concrete. Also looks like some modernisation work over the years.

We always joke around the annual inspection/service period, but there are buildings with higher risk. Interestingly our insurance assessor last month checked all of the hose reels and portable extinguishers. Not because we were in bad condition (quite the opposite), but part of a 'random' survey to check real-world risk compliance.
Click to expand...
lots of parquet flooring with that tar-like mixture underneath.
essentially, an oil and wood mixture.
 
Grant said:
fire flared up again early morning.
top floor is gutter - remainder of the building "unsalvageable" - severe structural damage

View attachment 1926119
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Thanks for the update. I have never considered the fire risks of an Art Deco building. Construction techniques differ, but if they had wooden floors (instead of concrete slabs), then the entire building would be an immediate write-off. Sad, because it's almost impossible to rebuild a heritage structure (more than 60 years old), with the original materials...
 
Gordon_R said:
Our block of 36 flats has 19 portable extinguishers (4.5kg), and 12 hose reels. In theory this should be enough to contain a fire. In practice the key is early access, which is a slight problem if there is only one doorway entrance, and there is nobody at home...
Click to expand...
keep a huge crowbar in the office - not just for fire, but also medical emergencies to gain entry thru locked doors/ security gates etc
Gordon_R said:
Evacuation should not be a problem, with open walkways and dual staircases. Enclosed walkways and staircases pose different kinds of hazards...
Click to expand...
an alarm system is key.
no need for an elaborate expensive system - simply a button (panic button type thing) next to a fire extinguisher on each floor + an alarm - same as used in cars and home security systems.
simple to install, cheap & makes enough noise get get everyone's attention
Gordon_R said:
We also have a few flats with gas stoves (9kg bottles). No ways am I going anywhere near that if it catches fire. Which reminds me, I don't actually know exactly which ones have gas...
Click to expand...
your insurers would need to know who has gas + installation compliance certificates.
you may find you have no cover at the moment if there is a fire caused by some gas appliance in the building
 
This thread makes sense of something I saw yesterday, but couldn't figure out. The Milnerton webcam showed a substantial smoke plume behind Lion's Head, but this is definitely not wildland fire season. The times match up with the reported structural fire:
webcam[20260730_1708_golden_cirrus_LH-fire].jpg
 
Grant said:
keep a huge crowbar in the office - not just for fire, but also medical emergencies to gain entry thru locked doors/ security gates etc

an alarm system is key.
no need for an elaborate expensive system - simply a button (panic button type thing) next to a fire extinguisher on each floor + an alarm - same as used in cars and home security systems.
simple to install, cheap & makes enough noise get get everyone's attention

your insurers would need to know who has gas + installation compliance certificates.
you may find you have no cover at the moment if there is a fire caused by some gas appliance in the building
Click to expand...

Our block is fine, but good advice. Been there, done that, for an elderly lady who fell out of bed. With everyone having phones and WhatsApp, an alarm system is not a high priority (and false alarms are irritating). I have an air horn too, which would really wake people up!

The insurance assessor asked who had gas stoves, but didn't seem too concerned. AFAIK all the installations have compliance certificates, though we don't have a list of them.

Structural fires in well maintained buildings are relatively rare, but given the population of a large city, these things will happen.

Grant said:
lots of parquet flooring with that tar-like mixture underneath.
essentially, an oil and wood mixture.
Click to expand...

Most of the flats in our block have/had parquet floors, with carpeting on top. This would certainly burn, but the concrete slab would stop a fire from spreading.
 
surprised those apartments dont have a sprinkler system installed
considering the high cost of living there, Id imagine they have thought of these things ahead of time.
 
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