Fire engine grounded after R400k snafu
BUFFALO City Metro has to fork out R400 000 to fix one of its new fire-fighting trucks after an employee seized the engine by pouring water into the oil tank.
It was unclear when the incident occurred but BCM Democratic Alliance PR councillor Sue Bentley said the truck was towed to the Ronnie’s Motors workshop in West Bank on November 24.
Bentley described the incident as gross negligence. “This misconduct must be investigated and disciplined,” she said.
It is understood the dashboard warning light of the MercedesBenz medium pumper showed that the vehicle needed water.
The unidentified firefighter placed a hose pipe into the oil reservoir and filled it up.
“The water and oil reservoirs are easily distinguishable from each other in the engine – the oil reservoir has a red lid and has an indicator on the lid that shows that oil needs to be placed there.
The water reservoir has a green lid. As a result of this error, the water caused the engine to seize. The vehicle was towed to Ronnie’s where 32 litres of water was found in the engine,” Bentley said.
The Dispatch visited the workshop yesterday and found the truck there – as well as another four BCM fire fighting trucks waiting for repair. The metro needs about R100 000 more to fix these four, which have a litany of problems and are out of service.
Said Bentley: “More than half of BCM’s fire engines are out of service at the hottest and busiest time of the year. BCM is risking lives, property and businesses.”
Bentley said her party had submitted questions to council on the dysfunctional state of the metro’s fire department and would pursue the matter until all BCM’s fire engines were back on the road.
Called for comment BCM spokesman Sibusiso Cindi said they were in a “communication strategy meeting” and would only be back in the office today.