BULAWAYO firefighters have expressed concern over traffic congestion in the city saying it is affecting their response to fire outbreak calls.
Acting chief fire officer Linos Phiri yesterday told Southern Eye that the situation has been made worse by the influx of traders in the city, making it difficult to navigate through the central business district (CBD) during fire outbreaks.
“Our response time to any incident of an emergency must not be more than ten minutes because we have fire stations located strategically to cater for that, but vendors have made the streets impassable. Our hands are tied because there seems to be a political hand in it, the situation has been worsened by vandalism of water hydrants," said Phiri.
Phiri said a disaster is looming if there is a fire outbreak around 5th Avenue due to the influx of vendors.
“We were made to do an inspection of government offices after fire broke out at a police residential flat (Southampton Building) in 2021 but up to now we do not know what happened to that report, it could be worse now due to the level of vandalism taking place,’’ he said.
He bemoaned the partitioning of buildings into smaller units using makeshift equipment such as timber.
Fire Prevention Zimbabwe representative Reggis Sibanda said vendors have invaded open spaces near fuel service stations, posing danger to themselves.
“The standard procedure is that there must be nothing within a radius of 50 metres from the service station but this is not the case. Vendors sell their wares near service stations, posing a danger in cases of fire outbreak.
"We have engaged them (service stations) but to no avail, we will engage the council and continue with our education until the situation improves," he said.
The city council is currently battling to control the influx of illegal vendors in the city centre, with some operating at night.
