Fatal fire debate rages on
CHARTWELL - Chartwell residents state that City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) firemen weren't brave enough to enter burning house
City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, recently came forward to verify details surrounding the cause of fire and actions of the EMS firemen at a Chartwell house fire that took the life of one person.
This follows accusations from community members of firefighters being negligent and incompetent.
In a press statement, released on 10 June Mulaudzi said, “The City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services wishes to announce that the firefighters who participated during the fire-fighting operations during the incident were indeed effective, professional and brave enough to conduct firefighting and rescue operations as expected.
Read: Man killed and woman injured after being trapped in blaze
“The City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services firefighters were projected as unprofessional people who didn’t know what to do and also not brave enough to rescue the trapped patients. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
However, those who were at the scene differ with Mulaudzi. Katerina Papadakis, who was at the incident said, “It was one fireman and two male neighbours who risked their lives going into the house once they received information that the residents of the house were, in fact, home. It was these three brave souls that found and subsequently rescued the female occupant and who continued to risk their lives searching for the homeowner, who tragically lost his life.”
Read: Emergency services rubbish claims of delayed response to Chartwell house fire
Other neighbours who were also at the incident, backed up Papadakis’ claims.
Mulaudzi explained that EMS services received a call of the house fire and immediately dispatched a fire truck. He added that the fire took approximately two hours to put out which made him believe that the cause of the fire was unnatural.
Warrant Officer Balan Muthan, head of communications for the Douglasdale Police Station, confirmed that police were still investigating and a case of murder had been opened.
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