Fire crew ‘burned’ for not responding
Firefighters failed to turn up despite being called.
FIREFIGHTERS who did not pitch up at a house in Albersville when called in December have now themselves come under fire from the furious homeowner.
The power distribution board in the house caught fire on December 14.
The family of three was asleep but thankfully their Yorkshire terrier, barking frantically at about 2.30am, got the Rampul family out of bed.
Paul Rampul went to investigate and was taken by surprise when he smelled smoke and noticed the burning DB board. He alerted his wife and daughter and contacted the police, who told him help was on the way.
“My security company, Lazer 911, arrived within 10 minutes and they also contacted the fire department. A few minutes later a police officer patrolling the area stopped and made another call to the fire department. I switched off the mains at the roadside, as the house was full of smoke and flames,” said Mr Rampul.
The flames subsided only after 45 minutes and there was still no sign of any fire crew.
At about 6am an electrician arrived and fixed the problem. “I could have lost my entire house if the flames had spread. Does the fire department only pitch up when the building is already reduced to ashes?” asked Mr Rampul.
Spokesman for Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, Simon April, confirmed that the control room did receive a call.
“The explanation received was that the caller had said that there was a burning fuse box inside a house. Based on that, the matter was referred to our electricity section instead of the fire rescue and disaster section. An electrician could only visit the house the next day,” said Mr April.
He said, however, that the municipality was conducting an investigation into the matter, with the aim of establishing if there was a need to institute a disciplinary process based on the manner in which the matter was handled. “Since there is an investigation, I am unable to deliberate further,” said Mr April.
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