City communities receive safety kits from Emergency Management Services
Residents receive safety kits.
In an effort to reduce fire incidents and fatalities caused by the unsafe use of heating and lighting appliances in fire-prone communities, the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) handed over Jozi safety kits to households at Moriting informal settlement.
According to Robert Mulaudzi of the emergency service, the receivers of this Jozi safety kits have already been trained in basic firefighting and basic first aid with the aim of empowering them to deal with some of the emergencies before professionals arrive on the scene.
“This is part of our initiative to build strong communities which are capable of dealing with any emergency which might occur in their areas, “said Mulaudzi.
He said that since the beginning of June they have already handed over Jozi safety kits in Klipspruit West, Kliptown, Mlamlankunzi, Thembelihle and Driziek and will continue to make handovers in different informal settlements.
100 households will receive #JoziSafetyKit as part of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).The program will continue in high risk areas pic.twitter.com/uFDVsn35oh
— City of Joburg EMS (@CityofJoburgEMS) June 1, 2017
Mulaudzi said during winter last year, EMS responded to many fire incidents within Johannesburg’s informal settlements.
“It is unfortunate that other people died during these fire incidents.
“In most of these fire incidents, young children are left alone at home given the responsibility cooking for themselves, which is one of the causes that may lead to fire incidents.
“We are hard at work fighting for zero per cent fire incidents,” said Mulaudzi.
The safety kit consists of a safe stove which can cut off the flame when there is excessive movement while cooking to prevent fire incidents, a burn kit to treat minor burns and a paraffin container with a safety cap.
Mulaudzi said they are going to hand over the safety kits in as many informal settlements as they can.
He said they urge citizens who are within the formal residential areas to use heaters safely.
“Residents should not leave heaters unattended while in use to avoid fire incidents,” said Mulaudzi.
@CityofJoburgEMS #Jozi safety kit handover @Moriting informal settlement @CityofJoburgZA #Winter fire safety campaign pic.twitter.com/R98MKnOQBe
— Cojems Spokesperson (@RobertMulaudzi) June 15, 2017
For more news follow us on these platforms:
Twitter: @SowetoUrban, Facebook: Soweto Urban News, Instagram: @SowetoUrban
News site 1: Westside-Eldos Urban News, News site 2: Soweto Urban News
