Spokesperson William Ntladi said fire and rescue crews were confronted by thousands of New Year revellers when they responded to a house fire in Mailula Section in the early hours of the morning.
“As they approached the intersection of Khoza and Mabuya streets, crews found that vehicles and party-goers had blocked the entire intersection and, subsequently, the fire engine and two light motor vehicles were involved in an accident.”
According to Ntladi, the owners of the two vehicles, supported by a good number of party-goers, stopped the fire engine, threatened the firefighters and even took the keys to the fire engine, preventing it from proceeding to its intended destination.
“Members of the public danced on top of the truck and even took photos while doing this – which is totally unacceptable.
“Our sincere thanks go to the security member who calmed the situation down prior the intervention of the EMPD.”
Ntladi said service delivery was interrupted and community safety compromised from around 5am to 10am on the day.
The key to the fire engine was found later in the morning in a restaurant close to the scene of the chaos.
In another incident, which took place at around the same time, a firefighter from Palm Ridge Fire Station was physically assaulted in Ramokonopi West, Katlehong while attending to a house fire in which a female victim died after sustaining intense burn wounds.
“An assault case was opened at Ramokonopi Police Station and the firefighter had to be booked off,” said Ntladi.
The cause of the fire is undetermined and the scene was handed over to the police for further investigations.
“The DEMS department once again pleads with communities to stop attacks on their personnel,” Ntladi said.
“There are better ways and means to address frustrations, like bringing service delivery dissatisfaction to the attention of management.
“This is better than taking the law into your own hands.”
