Sixteen people displaced after fire broke out at Cissie Gool House

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Sixteen people were left displaced after a fire broke out at the Old Woodstock Hospital, also known as the Cissie Gool House, in the early hours of Monday.

PHOTO: Shaneca Cupido


The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service said they received the call just after 3a.m of a building alight at the building situated in Mountain road.

‘’ The Fire and Rescue Service received the emergency call at 03:35 of a building alight in Mountain Road, Woodstock on Monday the 19th of May 2025. Fire crews from  Roeland Street, Sea Point, Salt River and Milnerton Fire Stations attended to the scene,’’ said Jermaine Carelse, City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson.

‘’Fire crews had to use the aerial resource as the fire burnt through the roof. The first floor was severely affected and a total of 16 people were displaced. The heroic efforts of the staff ensured that no one was injured and that the fire was quickly contained to minimize further damage to the structure,’’ he added.

Carelse said firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze at 07:00 and the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. He added that a Building Inspector has been requested to ascertain if the structural integrity has been compromised.

Bush Radio News visited the site and spoke to house leader, Fagmieda Ling, who explained that she was woken up by sirens.

‘’This morning, we were woken up by sirens and a call from the building managers that a certain section of our occupation is on fire. That's at 4 o'clock this morning. I jumped out of my bed and I just went around and knocked on everybody's doors to just get up because according to the building managers, it was quite huge and when I came closer to the place where the fire was, it was indeed huge. The fire was already through the roof.’’

‘’We don't know how the fire started, we know where it started and it happened in a corner. A child was woken up, apparently by the smoke and then  she jumped up and she too ran to a neighbor's house and alerted them that the room was on fire. She too could not give any explanation as to how the fire started and when the actual fire started. Everybody was up and ran around to see what they could do to assist the families that was already affected because the fire swept through the rooftops,’’ added Ling.

Ling said that sixteen people were affected.

‘’Eight or ten of these families were heavily affected, as their place was totally burned down. The others that were affected were water drenched, the belongings were soaked in water, because some had concrete roofs and the others had wood structures above them.’’

Housing advocacy groups, Ndifuna Ukwazi and Reclaim The City, has appealed for donations of blankets; mattresses; pillows; Toiletries like soap, toothpaste, washcloths; Gas and raw food for cooking.

Reclaim the City said it has set up emergency accommodation in their communal halls.

For more information contact Denver Arendse on 067 150 7143 or Elaine Diedericks on 079 728 6513. Goods can also be dropped at Cissie Gool House, Gate 1, situated on 1 Mountain Road, Woodstock

Done By: Shaneca Cupido

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