George building collapse: First responders reflect on the first 48 hours

The first 48 hours are considered the most critical when dealing with disasters. Some of the first responders on the scene at the Neo Victoria building disaster on May 6 were members of the George Fire Brigade, who received their first call for help at 14:10. 

In an interview with Fire Chief Neels Barnard, Divisional Commander Johan Brand and Station Commander Santa Sternsdorf they reflect on what has been described as the biggest building disaster in South African history.

‘Training, experience kicks in’

“A thousand things run through your head,” said Barnard. “Was it just a structural collapse of one wall? Was it the collapse of the whole building? It is only when you reach the disaster site that you see what has happened.”

Years of training and experience kick in when you get to such a disaster. With his 36 years of experience at the fire brigade, Barnard has never experienced something like this.

“Even in the Western Cape we have never experienced a tragedy of this scale before,” he said. 

He explained the process of assessing the situation, the triage of patients, rescuing the first patients and getting them to the hospital.

“For all of us this was a massive learning curve, and, according to me, George Municipality’s Fire Brigade and Rescue Services stood out by far in their ability to guide and lead the way forward.”

The big one

The Victoria Street building disaster was something he never thought he would face in his over 30 years of service.

“It was the big one. You are always waiting for that big one. You never hope for it, but you know it is going to come at some stage,” said Brand.

“We started working as a team, we applied triage, tried to establish which patients should be treated first and started with the rescue operation. We moved on to the patients we could not see, but only hear. We called for resources from the rest of the province as soon as possible. In the blink of an eye, we had a number of members from the public who helped on the scene, which was an incredibly big help to us. 

“We had access to equipment which was sent to us from all over the province and started to free people from under the rubble. At the end of the day, the rescue operation was a huge success.”

Brand said in the history of South Africa’s fire brigade service there has never been a building collapse on this scale.

“Our success rate is considered one of the world records. We are very proud of our staff and their professionalism.”