CITY CRACKS DOWN ON RUNDOWN BUILDINGS

AS MOURNERS paid their respects at a memorial service for the three firefighters killed when a building caught alight in Johannesburg, city Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith lost no time in citing buildings that might hold a similar fire threat to tenants.

Smith said he was disappointed at the blatant disregard for fire safety when he visited a building in the central business district (CBD) on Tuesday afternoon. The building is located in Long Street and is believed to be a hotel.

“An abatement notice to vacate the building was issued to the owner last week Friday, for ongoing contraventions of the Community Fire Safety By-law. We’ve been trying for almost two years to get them to comply and they have failed to do so,” Smith said.

Some of the contraventions include a lack of firefighting equipment on two of the floors, non-compliant emergency staircase/s as these are obstructed by rubble, chipped steps, non-functioning lights, no handrails, exposed electrical wires and the presence of sand on all levels, faulty fire detection system, no fire rating of doors and emergency evacuation systems, emergency lighting, emergency power, and homing of elevators has not been tested in the presence of the fire service.

“Our follow-up on Tuesday found that the building is still occupied, in direct contravention of the notice, effectively putting the lives of those occupying the structure at risk. Our fire and rescue service is now seeking legal advice on the way forward. This could include forcibly evacuating the building,” he said.

Smith said the fire and rescue department conducted five to six inspections a day.

After the blaze that killed the firemen, questions are being asked about the safety of government buildings in Cape Town’s CBD. Earlier this week the Cape Argus reported that the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union said almost 80% of government buildings in the Western Cape were not conducive to work in. These buildings range from Sassa offices in Khayelitsha, Eerste River and the Department of Education building in the Cape Town CBD.

“In the wake of these incidents, there have been a number of questions about building safety in Cape Town. The city’s fire and life safety inspectorate conducts as many inspections relating to buildings and hazardous installations as our resources allow.

“We simply do not have the resources to inspect each and every building proactively, so we encourage building owners but also tenants, to familiarise themselves with the Community Fire Safety By-law so that they can conduct checks of fire safety equipment and whether their building is compliant,” Smith said.

We simply do not have the resources to inspect each and every building