‘No fire trucks at Lonehill and Midrand stations is unacceptable’
SUNNINGHILL – This is according to Sunninghill Community's chair Linda Gildenhuys, and a spokesperson from Emergency Management Services responds.
A recent fire has brought the issue of the lack of fire trucks in the Johannesburg area back to the fore.
On 23 August at about 9.20am, a fire broke out at one of the units in the Serengeti Sands housing complex on Eldoret Street in Sunninghill. The cause of the blaze is still unknown but unit numbers 75 through to 98 were damaged, meaning that about 40 people were unable to return to their damaged homes. This is the second fire to affect the area in as many weeks. On 15 August, a fire was reported on a piece of open parkland on the corner of Edison Crescent and Kilindini Road.
Once the fire in the complex was spotted, residents and pets were quickly evacuated by local security companies and no injuries or fatalities have been reported. By about 12.20pm the fire had been extinguished.
“When we had the fire in the park [15 August] it took the fire truck two-and-a-half hours to get here,” said Linda Gildenhuys of the Sunninghill Community Ratepayers.
“We’re lucky there wasn’t a tragedy. Today [23 August] it took about an hour from when it was reported. The fact that there are no fire trucks at the Lonehill or Midrand stations is unacceptable.”
Robert Mulaudzi, spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services, confirmed that there were currently no fire engines at Lonehill and Midrand stations.
“Their fire engines are the old fire engines which we have in the service, which most of the time are in and out of the workshops being repaired instead of being on the road servicing our residents,” Mulaudzi said.
He added that five trucks from other stations attended the scene on 23 August, the first of which arrived from Sandton at about 10.32am. The other four vehicles came from Alexandra, Fairview, Ivory Park and Northview.
“We understand the residents’ frustrations about the lack of vehicles, however, we want to reassure them that we are doing something about this situation.
“In the meantime, we have strategically placed fire engines [in the city] which will be able to respond to any emergency which might occur in the area, so there is no way that there will be a fire incident in the area and we will be unable to respond to it.”
Mulaudzi said that the City was in the process of replacing all old fire engines, and in the past six months, six new vehicles had been provided to various stations.
Lehan le Grange, the chair of the complex said, “I’m just very glad that Savika [security company] and others were able to respond to the scene so quickly, and that no one was hurt.”
Meanwhile, the affected residents of Serengeti Sands have been put up, along with their animals, in alternative accommodation paid for by the complex’s insurance.
A fund has been set up by Gildenhuys and others to offer financial help for those who have lost all their belongings. To contribute to this fund, please feel free to contact Gildenhuys via email.
Details: Linda Gildenhuys chairman@suncomm.co.za
Also check out:
Community lends a helping hand to Clay Oven Informal Settlement after fire
