Established in 1968, Welkom Fire

Transcription

1 Matjhabeng Fire Service expanding The Matjhabeng Fire Service covers an area spanning square kilometres Established in 1968, Welkom Fire Station is now the headquarters of four fire stations within the newly demarcated Matjhabeng Local Municipality in the Free State, South Africa. The operational area of the Matjhabeng Fire Service covers six Acting chief fire officer James Mkhwanazi towns namely Welkom, Virginia, Odendaalsrus, Hennenman Ventersburg and Allanridge, says acting chief fire officer (CFO) for the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, James Mkhwanazi. The fire service covers an area spanning square kilometres in the goldfields of the northern Free State, north of Bloemfontein. Chief Mkhwanazi says that the six towns and its townships, which include a vast farming area, are covered by the municipality s four fire stations located in in Odendaalsrus, Welkom, Virginia and Hennenman. We also have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with neighbouring towns that do not have a fire station or any fire fighting vehicles. These towns are not situated within Matjhabeng Local Municipality but within our district municipality; Lejweleputswa District Municipality, explains Mkhwanazi. The Matjhabeng council has approved the build of six new satellite fire stations, the first of which is set to be built in Ventersburg, where construction is underway. Chief Mkhwanazi says that the new satellite fire station is set to be completed in December this year, saying that construction is in its final stages. Matjhabeng assistant fire chief, Francois Klaassen, says that the six new satellite fire stations are planned for the rural and remote towns in the region including Meloding, Phomolomg, Kutlwanong, Allanridge, Thabong and Ventersburg. Welkom is markedly different from other cities, also known as City within a Garden and the Circle City. There are no traffic lights in Welkom, says assistant fire Chief Klaassen. He says this has contributed to the infrequent number of vehicle collisions and accidents that occur in the region. Chief Mkhwanazi says fire training is one of the key functions of the Welkom Fire Station, which also has fire safety, rescue extrications and disaster management divisions. 36 l Volume 2 No. 12

2 Assistant fire chief, Francois Klaassen Risk profile Matjhabeng s highest risk within its jurisdiction is its informal settlement, states Chief Mkhwanazi. He says that the abundances of livestock in the region, known for its expansive farming community, create unique risks in the region. The livestock that move around town end up causing accidents that often claims the lives of many people in the local community, explains Chief Mkhwanazi. He adds that the interlinked informal housing in the rural areas of the municipality adds strain on the fire service. This has affected the fire services as shacks are attached to each other and when a shack catches fire, the rest of the shacks will be on fire. Hence, we had a shortage of personnel to educate the community in this regard. Another risk factor in the municipality, known for its gold mining industry, is illegal miners,states Chief Mkhwanazi. A string of mining towns are located in the western part of the municipality and further to the east are the agricultural towns of Hennenman and Ventersburg. Chief Mkhwanazi says that illegal miners trespass and loot many of the resources in the region including theft of electrical cables, water pipes, telephone cables and so forth. Assistant fire Chief Klaassen says the gold mining industry has been and still is the lifeblood of the local economy, despite many mines shutting down operations in recent times. He says that there were previously 20 mines that were operational in Welkom, 10 of which are still operations. Fire incidents While wildfires, rescue operations and responding to residential fires make up the majority of fire incidents experienced by the fire service in Matjhabeng, Chief Mkhwanazi highlights one industrial fire as being the most significant fire in the region.he says that the fire service responded to a large fire at the retail facility of a large tile and sanitary ware retailer. We had a fire at CTM, where the whole building was on fire, which was accelerated by chemicals that caused the fire to rapidly engulfing the building, says Chief Mkhwanazi. He also recalls another incident in power utility, Eskom s transformer line, which caught fire after illegal miners spiked transformers in order to try and steel copper cable. Organisational structure Matjhabeng s fire chief Mkhwanazi and assistant fire chief Klaassen make up the top operational hierarchy in the Matjhabeng Fire Service, which also has four divisional officers positioned at the municipality s four fire stations. The divisional officers lead a complement of 14 station officers at the respective fire stations of the Matjhabeng Fire Service. Lungile Khuze is the divisional officer for fire safety for Welkom Fire Station, while Petrus Khukutli and Petrus Moseme serve as operational divisional officers for the area. Jan Pottas serves as the disaster management coordinator for Matjhabeng Fire Services. There are 72 fire fighters employed by the fire service that also has four control attendants, a clerical assistant, two typist clerks and eight general workers. Francois Klaassen, assistant CFO; James Mkhwanazi, acting CFO; Lungile Khuze, divisional officer fire safety and Petrus Khukutli, divisional officer operational In terms of fire fighters, Chief Mkhwanazi says that the fire service employs fire fighters that are already qualified. He says that the four respective fire stations each have one station 38 l Volume 2 No. 12

3 Johan Erasmus, station officer Welkom; Francois Klaassen, assistant CFO; James Mkhwanazi, acting CFO; Lungile Khuze, divisional officer fire safety; Petrus Khukutli, divisional officer operational; Paulus Bengell, station officer Welkom; Prescilla Moseme, station officer Odendaalsrus and Mickey Khuze, station officer, training Zelle Mogoera, ttraining official; Mickey Khuze, station officer training; Johan Erasmus, station officer training with 20 students doing FF1, FF2, hazmat awareness and hazmat operational and Lungile Khuze, divisional officer training and Dups Molupe, training official Thabiso Nkhobo, fire fighter; Puleng Madona, fire fighter; Johan Erasmus, station officer Welkom with Jackie Matiso, fire fighter Aerial view of the practical training facility Fire fighter Martin Mhlambe doing control room duty at Welkom Fire Station The fire safety team Francois Klaassen, assistant CFO; Lungile Khuze, divisional officer; Johannes Matlokotsi, station officer and Alina Mbiko, fire fighter Volume 2 No. 12 l 39

4 The fire service has a strong female fire fighter complement that make up 50 percent of all fire fighters employed by the municipality. Resources Matjhabeng Fire Service has six fire engines in the region and an additional two new fire engines were recently acquired from Fire Fighting Equipment Africa (FFEA). The two new Iveco Eurocargo fire engines, worth R4million and delivered on 22 April 2014 by FFEA, are the first of six new fire engines that the Matjhabeng Local Municipality has approved for purchase over the next year. One of the New Iveco Eurotrekker s alongside the 1993 RD Gladiator (Cummins) that has a capacity of litres of water officer with four fire fighters per shift, as well as one rescue officer with a three-member fire fighter complement. Matjhabeng Fire Service hazmat team is made up of a five-member crew who are responsible for all hazmat operations in the municipality. The arrival of the new fire engines has been long overdue, as all the fire engines stationed at the municipality s four fire stations are 20 years and older. Other vehicle s in the fire service fleet include one rescue 4X4 vehicle, three sedan vehicles that are used as utility vehicles, two 4X4 s with skid units, one disaster command vehicle and a hydraulic platform. A fire station in the making. The first of six satellite fire stations to be build within Matjhabeng area. This station is in a final construction phase and is situated in Mmhahabane (the township of Ventersburg). This new fire station will be a great assistance for vehicle accidents and vehicle fires on the N1. 40 l Volume 2 No. 12

5 The Dennis pumper is a 1956 model and is still in a working condition. This pumper has a two stage centrifugal pump, a V8 Rolls Royce engine with an automatic gearbox. The pumper is the municipality s pride and joy and still serves it people via funerals, school events etc. The pump is still in a working condition, although the tank has leaks. Chief Mkhwanazi says, The fire department is doing well with the development of the industry. He mentions that the fire service stays abreast with the changes and advances in the fire industry, periodically drawing on the emergency services and the National Fire Protections Association (NFPA) standards of the US. Training Matjhabeng Fire Service has a fullyfledged training facility offering training to individuals and organisations from across the country. The fire service has five competent fire instructors in its fire training programme, says Chief Mkhwanazi. He says the fire service provides three full courses each year and also offers basic fire fighting and advanced fire fighting on request. We are fully accredited with the South Africa Emergency Services Institute (SAESI) and we present fire fighter one and two, hazmat awareness and operational, as well as fire officer and fire service instructor programmes. Chief Mkhwanazi says that there are no fire instructor courses outsourced by the municipality, which conducts all its training courses in house. Safety awareness Matjhabeng Fire Service has two safety awareness projects that are conducted annually. ipoloke Project is one of these fire safety programmes conducted by the fire safety division of the fire service where communities are educated and warned against the danger of open fires. The second project is the Paraffin Safety Awareness project, which is meant for communities that reside in informal housing where electricity is not available. Chief Mkhwanazi says that local communities are educated on extinguishing fires with caution and are advised to be proactive in informing the fire department about fires in the area. Challenges Chief Mkhwanazi says that a shortage of personnel to perform fire safety inspections in buildings is one of the challenges that the fire service faces. Other challenges include inadequate road infrastructure in the informal settlements that make responding to fires in these communities a difficult task. Chief Mkhwanazi also counts the municipality s ageing fleet and the shortage of staff as the key challenges that the fire service has encountered in recent times. In order to supplement the fire services in the region, the Matjhabeng Fire Service maintains a close working relationship with Welkom s local fire protection association (FPA). The fire service also works closely with the district disaster management centre (DMC) and the provincial DMC. Volume 2 No. 12 l 41