Residents trained to be fire fighters

MALACCA Road Informal Settlement residents said a local company’s move to train some of them on how to deal with fires has already spared many lives. Recently, an initiative by FTS Safety Group empowered informal settlement residents with skills to prevent and contain devastating shack fires through their SPARC project.

The company trained 20 representatives from various informal settlements including Kennedy Road, Blackburn Village and Malacca Road informal settlements.

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Pantelis Eleftheriou, Managing Director of FTS Safety Group, said the company realised that densely constructed structures made out of highly flammable building materials, dangerous illegal electrical connections and the use of paraffin stoves and candles meant that fires were both frequent and devastating in informal settlements.
According to the Institute of Race Relations (2014), an average of 23 shacks were destroyed by fire every day in South Africa.

“Children and elderly people often lost their lives whilst poor people were left with nothing as a result of blazes that were now so frequent that they weren’t even regularly reported in daily newspapers,” said Eleftheriou.

Based on the fact that 97 per cent of all fire related accidents in informal settlements are result of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions, FTS founded its SPARC project with the aim of improving safety at informal settlements.

“We realised that people needed to know the basics of fighting a fire and how to contain a fire with minimal risk to themselves rather than letting it get out of control. The overall message of safety is that people are valuable and need to value themselves. There may be disagreements and even political differences in communities but if we talk about shack fires, we quickly find that everyone is on the same page,” Eleftheriou explained. 

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Ntokozo Dube, a resident at Malacca Road Informal Settlement said soon after completing the course he was able to put his newly acquired skills to work. Dube said he, managed to spare resident’s lives by putting out a fire.

“We have already started implementing what we were taught. Recently a toddler accidentally started a fire by burning a bed, if it wasn’t for what we learnt at training the fire would have spread across the entire settlement. FTS also gave us fire extinguishers which is far more effective in putting out fires,” said Dube.

Eleftheriou said the ultimate vision is to mentor and continue to train volunteers.

“Ultimately, it is hoped that communities will have fire ambassadors who can patrol settlements, identifying risks and advising on proactive prevention. An equipped and qualified first response team to fight fires when they start. We would also like to partner with other companies and organisations to see this initiative becoming national,” he said. 

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