Rumours of faulty fire trucks add fuel to the flame
Although unconfirmed, the second fire truck, which is believed to be under warranty, is full but allegedly unable to achieve the correct pressure needed to provide an adequate stream of water to actually put a fire out, due to a fault between the truck and the firehose.
DRY conditions and extreme heat continue to pose a major fire threat to the AbaQulusi region.
While the current water crisis rages on, it seems our only hope is to pray that we don’t have any fire emergencies.
Rumour has it that neither one of the fire trucks at Vryheid Fire Department is currently fully functional. The older of the two trucks is at Afrimat being repaired, a service which Afrimat provides to the municipality at no charge as a community service by the company, which is well known for its charitable demeanour and acts of kindness and goodwill. It is believed that the fire truck will be operational again in mid February.
Although unconfirmed, the second fire truck, which is believed to be under warranty, is full but allegedly unable to achieve the correct pressure needed to provide an adequate stream of water to actually put a fire out, due to a fault between the truck and the firehose.
According to the municipality, there are disaster management staff who have been trained in firefighting and who should be available to respond to emergencies. However, when we called the municipality’s emergency number on Friday afternoon, our calls got as far as the switchboard and no further.
“Normally, we don’t buy fire trucks, we lease them,” said the mayor, Cllr Patience N Khaba. “The leased fire trucks should include everything that is needed to fight fire. The cost of the vehicles will be included in the next financial year.”
