Local heroes’ actions save the day

KOMATIPOORT – Local farmers and security companies were the heroes of the town after they controlled the blaze and rescued trapped shop owners last week when a fire engulfed a number of local business premises.

According to Mr Gerhard Coetzer, director of Securicon Lowveld, the situation could have got out of hand if they had not been notified of the Chinese who were trapped inside a flaming building.

“We received a call and rushed to the scene where we saw the tavern was alight. Business owners who slept in their shops during the night, cried out for help as the fire spread to the back of the tavern and began to engulf other shops,” Coetzer explained.

Luckily, he and his team at Securicon managed to break open the locked gates with bolt cutters to save the 20 trapped people.

“We then notified the farmers on the emergency channel to come and help extinguish the blaze, as the fire-and-rescue team had not yet arrived.

“If it had not been for the local farmers’ invention, more shops would have been destroyed and lives lost. There were approximately 10 farmers who came to the rescue,” said Coetzer.

“I received a phone call just after 06:00 and rushed to the scene of the fire. The farmers had to do everything themselves as we received little or no assistance from the Nkomazi Local Municipality. It was absolutely pathetic,” said one farmer who asked to remain anonymous.

“Nobody took control of the situation and everyone just stood and watched or hesitated. There was no structure and no plan and this was unacceptable.

“The biggest task was to keep the fire from spreading. The farmers knew the back of the shops had burnt down but managed to save the fronts. Businesses on the other side of the road could also have been victim to the carnage.

The farmers also ran out of water numerous times as the tanks on their vehicles held only 5 000 litres at a time.

“We had to refill 10 times before the flames were doused. That equates to 50 000 litres to get the fire under control.”

Another problem was the lack of fire-fighting equipment of the fire-and-rescue team. By the time they did arrive, the farmers already had the matter under control. The municipality’s water supply was extremely unreliable and they also asked us for assistance,” he said.

“They had only a small hose and there was a problem with their pressure valves. There was also an apparent lack of knowledge of the protocol needed in such a dangerous situation.

“Some of the firemen went inside the building and were at risk of being injured as they stood near danger spots, with the possibility of walls collapsing on them.”

In the end, and after a long struggle, the fire had been contained by these brave farmers.

“Ïf we had not taken action when we did, the entire Score shopping complex would have burnt to the ground.”