Recently residents have been complaining about fire trucks not making it to scenes in time.
In four incidents recently the major complaint was that fire trucks are not immediately available to help.
The latest incident happened in November at Mandela Street when one of the vehicles at a car dealership caught fire. While waiting for Emalahleni’s fire truck, Langamed Fire Department responded quickly and extinguished the fire.
In July, a house in Antelope Street caught fire. Langamed also came to the rescue and assisted. As the fire spread across the house, the Emalahleni Fire Department arrived and worked hand in hand to assist Langamed. Unfortunately the family lost everything in the fire.
There was no one in the offices of the Fire Department when a vehicle caught fire early November. (Photo: Melissa Nel)
Furthermore in May, a house situated at Ga-Nala burned down to the ground. Reports are that the first message sent on Kriel Ga-Nala 911 Whatsapp group was at 23:56 and no one came out. At 01:14 someone asked on the Whatsapp group if the Fire Department had arrived yet and a neighbour immediately answered,
“Nee nog geen brandweer. Huis klaar gebrand. (No, no fire brigade in sight. The house is already burnt).”
Four LPG gas cylinders where found inside the house which are suspected could have accelerated and worsened the situation.
In April, Emalahleni’s fire truck was nowhere to be seen an hour and half later when there was a blazing fire at a house situated in Pioneer Street. Instead, Kriel and Ogies came to the rescue. The fire was spotted at 04:26 and about two hours later the trucks had not arrived. Seeing that the fire department was nowhere to be seen, a community member called the office to tell them not to come anymore as the house had burned to the ground.
There was no one in the offices of the Fire Department when a vehicle caught fire early November. (Photo: Melissa Nel)
With all these incidents happening in Emalahleni concerning the fire trucks, one wonders where to turn to indeed. What is more alarming is that in the November incident, there was no one at the offices of the Fire Department!
The municipality’s spokesperson Mr Kingdom Mabuza responded to all the above queries during the time the stories were written in the WITBANK NEWS. Mabuza said that there were a total of six fire engines which cover all areas under Emalahleni.
“It is unfortunate that in a few instances we were unable to respond immediately, because of unforeseen delays like when people call the municipality late or when our fire engines are busy elsewhere,” explained Mabuza.
In case of an emergency, residents are advised to immediately call 013 690 6222/3333.
ALSO READ
https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/102745/fire-trucks-nowhere-found-time-need/
https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/93184/house-burns-ground-no-fire-truck-sight/
