Estcourt fire station yard remains overcrowded from 2019

Fire services in the red

“The municipality has no desire to meet the requirements of our community and by the way the station is kept, we can only wonder how much pride the fire chief has in his station.”

This comment was made by a local resident who is fearful of victimisation and asked not to be named.

A reliable source revealed that windows are broken, garage doors do not roll up easily, and plugs and lights are non-operational in the engine bays. Torches are used to navigate during the night.

With the poor state of the fire station and firefighting equipment / vehicles, the Umtshezi Fire Protection Association assisted with almost 100 fires last year.

READ: Fire Department comes under fire for ‘pathetic’ service

The association is aware that the Dennis Fire Engine is currently running and while it is about 42 years old, they are glad that the unit is at this stage running and relatively reliable.
Umtshezi Fire Protection Association chairperson Warren Blaker shared that they have big goals and dreams set out for the association.

“Watch this space as we continue to work towards them, assuring that nearby communities are not affected by the threat of fire. We aim to bridge the gap by working alongside our local firefighters,” he said.

The fires attended to by the Umtshezi Fire Protection Association were predominantly grass fires within members’ properties.

“We did, however, get called on several occasions to assist out of our operational zone. We attended a house fire, vehicle fires and grass fires within the town that threatened properties,” Mr Blaker explained.

Still no response has been received from the municipality regarding the non-operational vehicles parked at the fire station.

NOW READ: Frontline firefighting with the Umtshezi Fire Protection Association

Click to receive news links via WhatsApp. Or for the latest news, visit our webpage or follow us on Facebook and Twitter