City’s firefighting capacity questioned

THE great woodchip fire of 2023 taught us one crucial lesson – that our emergency services should at all times be well prepared and wellresourced for any eventuality.

Richards Bay, in particular, has enough chemicals stored to blow the city apart, and the speed of reaction to gas leaks and industrial fires is paramount.

As an industrial hub, our municipalities alone could not commit enough finance and manpower to the protection of their people, and so the corporates and other private bodies share the responsibility.

It’s a dangerous job and firefighters, specifically in the municipal sphere, should have all the required vehicles and equipment they need to do their job properly.

The state of the city’s firefighting capacity in terms of equipment and building conditions has long been cause for concern and in this edition, we again place the spotlight on the inability of the municipality to rectify pressing issues and the shocking conditions under which firefighters work daily.

The Empangeni fire station, for instance, has been without its roof for almost a year, leaving municipal fire trucks exposed to the harsh elements, which will inevitably result in rust damage to equipment.

Surely emergency funds could have been deviated to repair the roof in under 12 months if there was perhaps a delay in insurance payouts?

Failure to fix problems timeously can have catastrophic consequences, and the whole of Empangeni and surrounds cannot be left vulnerable.

Just a year ago, an Empangeni family lost everything when a fire destroyed their home, which was within walking distance of the Empangeni fire station.

In this instance, the newlypurchased fire engine based at the station at the time was reportedly temporarily unavailable.

On that point, one need only look at the delay in the relocation of the Alton fire station to an area and building better suited for its purposes.

The new fire station was proposed years ago but is continually deferred at budget time; this while the firefighters work in often appalling conditions at an old facility that’s long beyond its sell-by date.

The firefighters themselves, who often put their own lives on the line, can only work with what they have and the ratepayers cannot be compromised.

Authorities will have to answer why repairs at the city’s fire stations have not been prioritised.