Malvern Fire Station is still waiting for the return of its fire engine 13 months after it had gone in for repairs.
Ward 65 Clr Lindani Zulu expressed concerns about the fire station not having a fire engine.
On September 18, Malvern Fire Station was unable to assist residents when a fire broke out at a property on 24th Street destroying three backroom dwellings on the property because of them not having fire engines.
According to Zulu, he went to the fire station to ask for a fire engine and received no assistance.
A firefighting team from Johannesburg Central Fire Station attended to the fire.
Zulu said when there are fires in the area they have to wait for fire engines from other areas to assist them.
Also read: Did the city forget about Malvern Fire Station?
He also wrote a letter to MMC for Public Safety Micheal Sun requesting fire engines to be allocated to Malvern Fire Station.
The EXPRESS sent an email to Emergency Management Service (EMS) spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi questioning when the fire engine will be returned to the station or if the station has received a new fire engine.
“Most of our fire engines, including the one in Malvern, are not back from repairs. Our engines are imported vehicles, therefore it takes a long time to order parts because we have to get those parts outside of the country. The ones we will be procuring now are locally made to avoid such situations,”’ explained Mulaudzi.
“The nearby Fairview Fire Station, which is a few minutes away from Malvern and central fire stations, are assisting in the meantime while we are waiting for the fire engine to be repaired,” shared Mulaudzi.
Three new fire engines were delivered in February 2018 which were to serve Malvern, the CBD and Berea.
It was previously reported that the new fire engine serving Malvern will be placed at Fairview Fire Station.
Also read: Lack of fire engines in Malvern a concern
“The station has the one fire engine which is a first turnout vehicle capable of responding to fire incidents and motor vehicle accidents and an Air Truck. It’s also running about three ambulances daily,” shared Mulaudzi.
In response to how many fire engines a station the size of Malvern requires, he said, “Each and every station is expected to have at least one fire engine but we are unable to meet that target due to the fact that most of our vehicles are very old.
“They are spending most of the time at the workshop instead of on the road servicing our residents,” explained Mulaudzi.
He said they are aware of the concerns from the residents but EMS is doing its best to serve the community.
“We would like to reassure our residents that we are addressing the issue of shortages of fire engines as a matter of urgency and we will continue to make sure that with the limited resources we have we strategically place them in order to effectively respond to emergencies at all times,” said Mulaudzi.
