The City of Joburg’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) will be opening a new fire station in Cosmo City and had a sod-turning ceremony at the site on 17 March.
EMS spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi said that they had been troubled by the unacceptable delay when responding to incidents at emerging suburbs around Cosmo City, which were far from the nearest fire station. Hence, the decision to construct Cosmo City Fire Station after a feasibility study showed that all emergency incidents around that area were covered by Hunters Hill, Lonehill, Randburg and Florida Park fire stations.
“The building of any EMS facility is premised upon a strategic goal to increase on the accessibility of the services to the community. These facilities are an embodiment of the City of Joburg’s commitment to building safe communities and therefore a safer city. The organisation’s primary responsibility is to ensure we save lives and property. That is why the plan to build the Cosmo City Fire Station is critical,” Mulaudzi said.
He pointed out that the distance travelled when responding to incidents in and around Cosmo City affected their response time.
He estimated the current emergency calls made from Cosmo City and surrounding areas to be around 9 000 calls per year and explained that the need for a fire station in and around Cosmo City was undisputed, because areas such as Kya Sand, North Riding, Msawawa, Zandspruit, and Cosmo City have problems of depending on fire stations far away from their area.
Mulaudzi added that the new Cosmos City Fire Station building design is similar to other fire stations such as Lonehill and Sandton, and said that the construction of the fire station included a Be Safe Centre that would serve as an educational tool to inform community members about EMS safety programmes.
“The organisation cannot take the risk of gambling with people’s lives, we therefore promise to adhere to one of our foremost regulations, which deal with keeping our commitment within our mandate. This being to save lives and property,” he concluded.
Details: EMS, 011 375 5911.
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