Bank of Lisbon building firefighters honoured with Bravery Awards

The City of Johannesburg on 28 January handed out EMS Bravery Awards, at the Florida Fire Station, in Roodepoort, where fallen, and living, Emergency Management Services firefighters were honoured. 

The Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba, Public Safety MMC, Michael Sun and EMS Acting Fire Chief, Arthur Mqwa handed out Medals of Valour to the courageous men and women of Emergency Management Services.

On 5 September last year, three brave firefighters lost their lives after a blaze engulfed the Gauteng health department building in the Johannesburg CBD.

The crews who responded to the building fire included members of Fairview and Central fire stations, and they were trapped in the building which resulted in the deployment of the EMS Rescue team who successfully took them out braving the raging flames to rescue their own, and recovered the bodies of the three fallen heroes Khathutshelo Muedi, Mduduzi Ndlovu, and Simphiwe Moropana.

The bereaved families were also part of the ceremony.

After the incident, questions were raised about the shortage of equipment and unavailability of required resources to conduct active firefighting.

The media reports prompted the City to launch a series of parallel investigations to get clarity on what happened during the Bank of Lisbon fire incident.

The City of Joburg instituted internal and external investigations by the EMS forensic fire investigation unit and external investigations by the Fire Protection Association and the Department of Labour on the matter.

All investigative proceedings are still ongoing and the department will await the conclusions of the report with recommendations.

The City of Joburg has reassured residents of the city that EMS management was committed to providing effective emergency services on a daily basis without disruptions.

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