Water pressure an issue in dousing building fire, says Mashaba

Sufficient water pressure could have aided in extinguishing the office block fire on Wednesday where three firemen lost their lives.

The 23-storey government building in the CBD, which houses the Bank of Lisbon and the department of health, was still in flames on Thursday morning and had spread to other areas.

Herman Mashaba alongside MMC for safety Michael Sun visited some of the injured firefighters on Thursday and said they planned to also visit the bereaved families to pay their respects. He added that the city would do everything it can to assist the families of the deceased firefighters.

Four firefighters were hospitalised – two with smoke inhalation and the other two with burn wounds.

The burn victims will be undergoing surgery today (Thursday).

The city mayor highlighted that efforts to put out the blaze on Wednesday may have been hampered by the lack of sufficient water pressure in the building which is highly important in a building of that size.

The government officials who were evacuated from the building also mentioned the conditions of the building to have been unsafe.

This was confirmed by Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure and Development Jacob Mamabolo who acknowledged the building did not comply with occupational health and safety regulations.

Mashaba has called on Gauteng Premier David Makhura to probe the circumstances that led to the fire.