Johannesburg fire: Inside a 'hijacked' South African building

 

At least 76 people died when a building caught fire In the South African city Johannesburg on 31 August.

The building had been "hijacked" - taken over by a gang who were illegally renting it out.

It's a common phenomenon in the city, where dozens of buildings are in a similar situation.

The BBC got access to another hijacked building across the street from where the fire happened, to see what conditions are like in these blocks.

China fire was government's fault - victim's daughter

 

A woman whose mother and four siblings died in a fire in the Chinese city of Urumqi has blamed the government for their deaths.

China operates a strict zero-Covid policy, resulting in many lengthy lockdowns. Protesters say restrictions hampered people's escape from the burning building on 24 November - though the government denies this.

BBC Newsnight's Danny Vincent spoke to Serafet, a Uyghur living in exile in Turkey, who said she found out she had lost family members through social media.

She added there had been no official confirmation of their deaths.

Iranian protesters set fire to Ayatollah Khomeini’s ancestral home

 

Protesters in Iran have set on fire the ancestral home of the Islamic republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as two months of anti-regime demonstrations show no let up.

The house in the city of Khomein in the western Markazi province was shown ablaze late on Thursday with crowds of jubilant protesters marching past, according to images posted on social media, verified by AFP.

Khomeini is said to have been born at the house in the town of Khomein – from where his surname derives – at the turn of the century.

India: Huge blaze breaks out at landfill site

 

A huge fire has broken out at Bhalswa landfill site, north of India's capital city, Delhi.

Emergency crews attended the blaze, while those in the surrounding area complained of breathing difficulties.

Gopal Rai, Delhi's environment minister, said that the cause of the fire would be investigated.

A dangling baby's breath-taking escape from a fire

 

A police officer climbed the outside of an apartment block to rescue a one-year-old baby dangled over a balcony by her desperate mother during a fire in Florida.

Deputy William Puzynski then lowered the girl to officers waiting on the ground. Firefighters rescued the mother by ladder.

The condition of mother and baby is unknown and the cause of the blaze is being investigated.

Fires in Boulder County, Colorado - LIVE BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE (including Superior, Louisville)

 

Apocalypse in the Amazon rainforest

A raging fire devastated Brazil’s Amazon rainforest in the summer of 2019. Images of the blaze frightened experts and politicians around the globe. Protecting the unique ecosystem is essential for climate conservation.

If You're Going To Fire It Helps To Have Water

So, your fire truck has been sent to an actual fire except there's a "little" problem.  If there's no water in the fire trucks it makes it difficult to put the fire out.

A fire truck arrived at the scene of a blazing fire without firefighters realizing there was no water in its tank in Isa City, Kagoshima Prefecture, last month.

The Isa fire department revealed the incident this week, adding that firefighters had to fetch water from a nearby lake, which delayed the hosing down procedure by five minutes, Fuji TV reported. 

Furthermore, the fire department has decided to reprimand five fire chiefs for neglecting their duties. 

Moron's Obviously Run The Odakyu Train Comapny

On Sunday afternoon in Tokyo an Odakyu train bound for Shinjuku passed a building that was on fire quite close to the tracks.  A police officer pushed the emergency  stop button at the nearest crossing causing the train to stop automatically. Unfortunately the train stopped right next to the building that was on fire.  Now for the best part the operations center for Odakyu didn't bother to inform the train's driver not only the trains location, but for reasons only known to them couldn't bring themselves to tell him that the roof of the train had caught fire.

Why think of the passengers safety when keeping them in the dark  and trapped on a burning train.  Personally, if I'd been been on that train I would've found the emergency door release and let the passengers out of the train.