QUICK-thinking control-room operators and heroic action by reaction officers led to two people being saved from a burning building in Amanzimtoti early this morning (May 22).

Tony Lokker, managing director of ET Rapid Response, said their 24-hour emergency control centre received multiple activations from a business premises and immediately dispatched multiple reaction officers to the premises.

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“Upon arrival, they discovered that the building was on fire, and knowing that people were staying on the premises, our reaction officers immediately requested that control-room operators contact those people staying on-site and dispatch the fire department,” he said.

Lokker said that once the control room managed to get in contact with the people staying on-site, who were not aware of the fire at the time, the people in the building said they were trapped and could not find a way out.

“In a successful coordination between our control-room operators and reaction officers on the ground, an extraction point was identified where the fire had not yet spread. They managed to guide the people on the premises where to go. Both people were successfully rescued and thankfully not injured,” he said.

eThekweni Fire and Rescue responded within minutes and managed to extinguish the fire successfully. The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage.

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