Diepsloot residents fight fire with soil
DIEPSLOOT - The community of Diepsloot Ext 2 was forced to fight a fire on 18 September after firefighters allegedly failed to come to their rescue.
DA councillor Refilwe Mathebula said an electric pole caught fire which sent local residents into a panic.
Mathebula said she was sent from pillar to post when she called the Emergency Medical Services’ helpline. She added that an attempt to get assistance from the police also drew a blank.
“After seeing that no help was coming despite communicating with the station commander, the community then acted on instinct to try and stop the fire from spreading to nearby homes. “I tried to use my fire extinguisher, but my cylinder is not big enough,” said Mathebula.
The councillor revealed that they had to resort to the use of soil and water to stop the fire from spreading, despite the fact that the fire was only 100m away from the fire station.
“What is the purpose of having a fire station in Diepsloot if it cannot help whenever there is a fire? I suppose this fire station is just a mere decoration serving no purpose,” said Mathebula. She acknowledged that it was dangerous for them to resort to the use of soil and water, but added that they were left with no option as many houses were in danger of catching fire.
“I am aware of recent reports that firefighters are under resourced and short staffed, and I will take this up with the MMC for Public Safety to establish what the problems are in order to seek a possible solution in aid of the community,” she said.
City of Joburg Emergency Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi dismissed claims of non-response, adding that his department responded to the only call they received on 18 September at 8pm.
“We are not aware of any incident which was reported on Friday as it does not appear on our call system, we have never ignored any emergency call which has been requested from our call centre,” said Mulaudzi.
He dismissed the DA’s allegations as political grandstanding and warned the opposition party against encouraging people to use water and soil to fight fire caused by power poles.
“It is also unfortunate that the DA all the time uses our department to politically grandstand. It is far from the truth that we don’t have enough resources at Diepsloot Fire Station,” said Mulaudzi.
