Fire victims receive skin graft surgery

Two firefighters involved in the fatal fire at a government building in Johannesburg received skin graft surgery last week and were recovering well in hospital.

This comes after the health department building in Johannesburg – that was found to be only 21% compliant to the required standards – burnt down, leading to the death of three firefighters.

Emergency Services spokesperson Nana Radebe reported at the time that up to nine firefighters were hospitalised, and four had suffered from traumatic stress after losing their colleagues while trying to fight the raging blaze.

She said they would receive trauma counselling and were receiving assistance from companies, including Old Mutual, in this regard.

The two firefighters who underwent the skin graft surgery were reported to have sustained the most life-threatening injuries from the fire, unlike seven of their other colleagues who had since been discharged and allowed to go home to recover.

Emergency Management Services (EMS) spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi confirmed yesterday that he had gone to see the firefighters after their surgery and that they had been in good spirits.

He said although he could not confirm their release date, they were expected to be out of hospital within a month.