Residents and councillors raised concern about the state of emergency equipment following leaks within a fire hose. A video had circulated social media and showed that there was a hole/leak on the fire hose used to douse a fire that took place at Gateway Shopping Centre recently. The incident took place at Totalsports on Sunday, 11 May, around 7pm. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
Ward 35 councillor, Bradley Singh, said that this was a very serious concern regarding a fire engine truck based in uMhlanga, which was captured on video with a leaking hose. “This malfunction in emergency service equipment is unacceptable and poses a direct risk to public safety and the effectiveness including the safety of our firefighters. I’m demanding that the leaking hose must be fixed or replaced without delay to ensure the truck is operational for emergencies.”
SIngh said the managers responsible for maintaining these vehicles must be held accountable for this lapse, as such failures endanger lives and undermine our emergency response capabilities. “We have also written to the Chairperson of the Emergency Services Portfolio Committee and the committee must conduct immediate oversight of all eThekwini Municipality fire trucks to identify and rectify any other potential faults. Provide the committee with a written report on the findings and corrective measures taken. Our firefighters deserve reliable equipment, and our community deserves protection,” he said.
EThekwini spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana said that the allegations were not true. “Water dripping from hoses is common in any incident because the firefighters work with water, however in this incident there were no major hose leaks that were detected. If we do experience a damage in a hose or any fire fighting equipment, it is replaced
as part of the asset replacement programme in order not to waste water. Our firefighter protective gear is still safe to use.”
With regard to water that flooded the shops, Sisilana said it was coming from the burst overhead pipes from inside the shop, however regarding sprinklers and whether they were shut off or not, their firefighters did not witness any of that.
Gateway Theatre of Shopping management said that the safety of its tenants and customers are of utmost priority and confirmed that a full investigation is currently underway to establish the cause of the blaze.
