Walvis Bay has experienced three consecutive days of shack fires which caused havoc and much destruction since Monday afternoon, when the first fire broke out in Kuisebmond’s Sea Point area. Three more fire incidents followed, of which one occurred on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday.

The shack fire on Monday was caused by a suspected electrical cable failure from one of the shacks, claiming 10 shacks in the Sea Point suburb of Kuisebmond. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, though all properties were incinerated. Another fire broke out in the Sea Point area on Tuesday afternoon, also claiming a number of shacks. The fiery chaos continued on Wednesday afternoon, when the fire siren was sounded twice. The first fire alarm was to alert firefighters of a fire in Maraboe street, Tutaleni, which destroyed seven shacks and everything in it. The fire which allegedly started in one of the shacks, spread to the neighbouring shacks while most of the owners were at work. No one was injured and the cause of the fire is still unknown. Shortly after, the fire siren was sounded once again, this time to alert of a fire in Theo Ben Gurirab avenue, by the time of going to press the severity of the incident was still unknown.