Councillors urge CoJ to equip fire stations after a man’s tragic death in Fourways fire

A devastating house fire in Magaliessig, Fourways, has claimed the life of a man who was trapped inside, fueling outrage over the Emergency Services response.

Tersia Cowley, a neighbour who dialled the fire department, expressed her frustration over the delayed response time and the lack of equipment available at the Lonehill Fire Station.

She said she was particularly appalled by the receptionist’s apparent nonchalant attitude when she reported the fire, recalling the response as a dismissive ‘okay’ when she emphasised someone was trapped and dying.

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“It was as if I was talking to a corpse. A person who is supposed to be behind that line should be able to show sympathy and remorse, and I did not get any of that, unfortunately. That is not nice.”

An investigation conducted by councillor David Foley of Ward 94, during his oversight visit at fire stations within Region A, revealed how dire conditions including non-functional telephone lines, insufficient equipment, staff shortages, and budget cuts hinder their ability to respond to emergencies effectively.

“Lonehill Fire Station has a truck that is just parked there and it has been six years, nobody knows if it is working or not,” said Cowley.

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“This was a stark reminder of how helpless and alone we are when something like this happens. It took 45 minutes for EMS to arrive on a scene that started at around 05:30 on Friday, May 23.”

Cowley said she wishes the emergency services take note and put their best people forward.

“They should be able to react, be precise in taking down info, not ask for the spelling of a street or suburb name.”

Ward 93 councillor, Vino Reddy said the lack of EMS and response vehicles at fire stations across the City of Joburg results in delayed responses and in this instance a tragic loss of life.

“The situation is so dire that we have seen the emergence of private fire fighting vehicles. The Lonehill Residents Association, in partnership, offer such a service but residents need to know about services like these.”

Reddy admits that fire stations are ill-equipped to respond quickly to fires and the Lonehill Fire stations cannot respond to such emergencies with fire fighting vehicles very often being deployed from Sandton, Midrand and Diepsloot.

“The City of Joburg has a responsibility to the residents that live in this city to keep them safe and secure and the city is failing in all this if residents cannot be assisted in these times of need. Fire fighting equipment vehicles did respond, but 30 minutes later.

Reddy believes that if there was a fire truck at Lonehill Fire Station it would have taken 10 minutes to respond and possibly a tragedy would have been averted, a life saved and a family kept whole, and children would still have their father.

“In a city with scarce resources, we need to look at an equitable distribution of these resources but essential EMS equipment cannot and should not be overlooked.

This horrible incident is testament to why our EMS needs ‘tools of trade’ to effectively do the work they are supposed to.

“I would like to offer my condolences to the family and friends of the deceased for their loss. We need to work towards preventing tragedies like this from happening again. I, together with my fellow councillors from neighbouring wards, and on behalf of the residents that the Lonehill Fire Station serves, calls on the CoJ to fully equip and capacitate the station with the necessary fire fighting equipment and most essentially fire trucks to enable the fire station/ firefighters to serve the community for the purpose it was built.”

Xolile Khumalo from EMS said Foley did visit several EMS Fire Stations.

“As noted, you have indicated that he raised certain concerns following these visits. In line with standard procedure, the councillor is required to submit a formal report outlining these concerns to the Section 79 Oversight Committee.

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“Upon submission of this report, the Department will be afforded an opportunity to review the contents and provide an appropriate response.”

She said in the absence of such a report, EMS is not in a position to respond to any related queries at this stage.

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