Firefighters pay tribute to fallen heroes

Colleagues from the City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) firefighters are set to run the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon on 4 November in honour of the firefighters who lost their lives at the Bank of Lisbon building fire on 5 September.

On 4 November three firefighters from the City of Johannesburg’s EMS will run the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon to pay tribute to the three firefighters who tragically lost their lives at the Bank of Lisbon building in early September, in the line of duty.

Firefighters Siphiwe Moropane, Mduduzi Ndlovu and Khathutshelo Muedi lost their lives while attending to a fire incident in the inner-city, which also left eight of their colleagues injured, two of whom are still in the Milpark Hospital recovering from injuries sustained during the fire.

Nhlakanipho Khoza, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Nkosi Mzolo will be kitted in full firefighting gear when they take on the 42,2km marathon, A statement from the City said the following, “For now, the three are pumped up and have vowed to conquer the difficult route in memory of their fellow fallen colleagues.”

The marathon will begin and end at the FNB Stadium in Soweto on Sunday 4 November. The trio will be dressed in firefighters’ flash hoods, helmets, turnout pants and jackets and instead of firefighting boots, they’ll be wearing running shoes to avoid blisters. A firefighter’s suit is quite heavy and it remains to be seen whether they will survive the test.

The City of Johannesburg’s EMS spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi urges all residents of Johannesburg, particularly those from Soweto and surrounding areas to rally behind the three firefighters all the way to the finish line on Sunday. Mulaudzi said, “This will also be an opportunity for us as an organisation to alert the residents about the all-time dangers which firefighters are faced with when responding to emergencies.”