Visibility of fire hydrants a must
Impala Park resident, Marian Oeschger, is concerned over the danger that exists due the non-visibility of fire hydrants in the communities.
Oeschger said that she was alarmed when Emergency Services was called to a fire that broke out in Impala Park on August 9, and on arrival, the firefighters couldn’t find a fire hydrant on any street nearby.
“We find it to be complete negligence that something like this can happen, and we as the residents are left wondering what we could do and where the hydrants are,” says Oeschger.
According to the spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services, William Ntladi, when the department received the call that the house was “well alight”, resources were dispatched and the EMS responded immediately.
“On arrival at the scene, we first used water from the fire engine, which has 3 200 litres capacity.
“The water hydrant was then located and a continuous water supply was established, and the fire was contained and extinguished,” says Ntladi.
However, the spokesperson highlights that it is important that the community know that a fire engine does not have an endless supply of water on board, hence, why fire hydrants are installed.
Disputing the allegations made by Oeschger, Ntladi says that the water supply from the hydrant was established prior to the fire engine water tank being empty.
“At no given time was the water supply stopped due to an empty tank or no hydrant found. There was always continuous water supply from the initial attack, until the fire was contained and extinguished,” says Ntladi.
He explains that the first pump that arrived on the scene found that the roof of the house had already collapsed before they could even initiate the fire attack lines.
“By virtue of scene assessment, the fire was spreading rapidly towards the adjacent rooms and buildings.
“The priority in the fire attack strategy was to prevent the fire from spreading and save the unburnt area, hence, the collapsed roof area was not given priority until the fire was contained,” he says.
“The volatility of the fire was very high, because of the gas leakage from the gas cylinder, which was inside the burning structure.”
Ntladi denies that there are no fire hydrants in this part of Impala Park, saying that one of the challenges faced by EMS is that of underground hydrants being covered by residential gardens (lawn) and pavements.
“Residents must please ensure that they do not cover fire hydrants with rubble or shrubs or other objects.
“We also request people to call Emergency Services direct while the fire is still in the incipient stage to minimise the damage to property,” he says.
