BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has dismissed claims that the fire brigade department delayed attending to a fire that broke out at a property along Duncan Road in Suburbs.
Reports indicated that the fire brigade received a running caller reporting an inferno at the stated property at around 11:45pm.
Reports also indicated that the fire brigade arrived late at the scene while the trucks were empty.
But BCC spokesperson Nesisa Mpofu dismissed the claims saying four fire tenders were dispatched to the property, with a neighbour leading them to the address.
“The brigade took five minutes to get to the scene of the fire. On arrival, almost the entire main house was on fire and gaining momentum and two-thirds of the roof had already collapsed,” Mpofu said.
“The fire had spread through the common roof to the entire house as the house had no separating wall. The fire was spreading from the western side of the house to the eastern part.
“The team started battling the fire, of which four fire engines loaded with a total of 10 400 litres of water augmented by two fire hydrants were put into operation.”
Mpofu also dismissed reports that the fire tenders were empty when they arrived at the scene, saying firefighting and rescue operations started as soon as the team arrived at the site.
- Uproar over census figures
- Byo Arts Festival in turmoil…One year later, festival has yet to pay artists…Organisers play cat and mouse with artists
- Bulawayo struggles to clear housing backlog
- Council acts tough on debts
Keep Reading
“The City of Bulawayo, like fire services all over the world, relies on the hydrant system and carries enough water to allow time to connect to the hydrant,” she said.
“The fire brigade’s reaction time was a minute to leave the station and this was witnessed by the running caller who attests to this in written confirmation.
“It should also be noted that fire engines are always kept full of water and there is no given time you will find the fire engines without water.”
Mpofu said witnesses had indicated that the fire went unreported for some time because they did not have correct contact numbers.
She said they suspected the fire was as a result of an electrical fault which occurred 15 minutes after the restoration of electricity in the area.
“The City of Bulawayo Fire and Ambulance Service is capable of handling any type of emergency and rescue operations,” Mpofu said.
“The brigade has officers who have received international standards training that is recognised the world over.
“We encourage residents to take note of the Fire Brigade numbers and the prefixes. Residents are further encouraged to always call the Fire Brigade first before attempting to put out the fires on their own.”
Recently, Bulawayo councillors expressed concern over shortage of fire tenders and ambulances in Cowdray Park amid indications residents were experiencing long delays in service delivery during emergencies.
