Fire Department reaches out to Working on Fire
AbaQulusi Public Safety’s Mr TS Mthembu informed the Vryheid Herald that he was meeting with the leadership of the local Working on Fire department to see how they could work closely together.
THE FIRE that engulfed the St Thomas Parish two weeks ago has set into motion an action plan for local emergency departments to build stronger working relationships.
Last week, AbaQulusi Public Safety’s Mr TS Mthembu informed the Vryheid Herald that he was meeting with the leadership of the local Working on Fire department to see how they could work closely together.
According to the Fire Protection Association’s Steven Hibbert, the fire that took place at the parish was a red flag and reminder of why there needs to be a proper structure to attend to such situations.
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“There needs to be someone in control at a situation like that, members of the public can’t be allowed to get as close as they were to the building,” said Mr Hibbert.
He went on to explain how there needs to be a reaction person who is the first person to arrive on scene followed by safety officers.
He pointed out how members of the public seem to have become reliant on the local Neighbourhood Watch as a result of having lost faith in the municipality’s fire department.
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Mr Hibbert went on to explain how Working on Fire has previously offered to supply two trucks, a fast reaction officer, a station commander, a division commander as well as six fire-fighters per 12 hour shift (all of whom would be paid by WOF) between 2014/15 but never got a response from the municipality.
Working on Fire is said to have also offered 15 fire fighters to the municipality for 5 years, but this also did not materialise.
The Public Safety department’s TS Mthembu confirmed that this matter had been raised during last week’s meeting between Working on Fire and AbaQulusi Municipality.
The municipality will go through the offer once again and although it is unclear whether they will sign up for it this time, they are at least going to look at it.
