FSRA preps for fire season

As the early morning and evening temperatures start to plummet ahead of the fast-approaching winter months, the Florida South Residents Association (FSRA) is preparing for fire season.

According to FSRA chairperson Rodney Churchyard, winter is when most residential fires occur in the area.
“People make use of heaters with elements or gas heaters to keep warm. Unfortunately, when these appliances are faulty or are used incorrectly or left unattended, the results can be catastrophic.”

One of the problems that the area faces when it comes to house fires, is the availability of fire hydrants.

“This is a very old area and well-established area that encounters a lot of problems,” says Churchyard. “Fire hydrants are not regularly serviced, and in some cases, we don’t even know where they are located.

“We’ve endeavoured to find, repair or service, and mark every fire hydrant in our area, thus ensuring that, should a fire occur, firefighters can easily locate and connect to a fire hydrant in the street to quickly and efficiently deal with the emergency.

“Firefighters responding to a fire are battling against time. We want to eliminate the searching for a hydrant, and ensure that every hydrant is in excellent working condition, and easily accessible.”

Armed with some tools and some manpower in the form of two concerned community members, Brian ‘Chuck’ Norris Snr, and FSRA committee member Steven Calvert, Churchyard and Emergency Control SA operations manager Ian Janse van Rensburg, took to the streets of Florida South on Saturday morning, May 25 to locate fire hydrants, test them, and properly mark them.

“Hydrants that require repair will be reported to the relevant authorities. Those that work, are properly cleaned to ensure that firefighters have no trouble connecting their equipment to them.

“We regularly find hydrants that are overgrown, or buried on sidewalks. The grass eventually just grows over them, making them nearly impossible to find. Some homeowners feel they don’t fit with the aesthetics of their sidewalks and therefore cover them with the ground and let the grass grow over them. This is a massive problem.”

According to Janse van Rensburg, time is the biggest factor when it comes to effectively halting a house fire.

“Once the flames have taken, it can take 30 minutes or less for a house to be completely gutted. Therefore, getting water on fire in the shortest possible time is essential to saving lives and property.”