By Natasha Adam
The Bulawayo Fire Brigade has denied allegations that they attended the fire which burnt down a house in Morningside suburb and claimed three lives last Wednesday, without water.
In an interview yesterday, Bulawayo Acting Chief Fire Officer Mr Linos Phiri said instead they mobilised three fire engines to put out the fire.
“The allegations are not true. We mobilised three fire engines, two being water tenders which carry 1 700 litres of water and the other fire engine carries 9 000 litres of water and they are always full all the time. You can ask the neighbours, we unfortunately could not rescue them but we attended swiftly,” he said.
Mr Phiri said the fire brigade does regular maintenance checks on all their fire engines to ensure that they are fit for immediate deployment.
“We have a two-shift system here so every shift that comes in is rechecked to make sure everything is in order. We conduct rechecks on the fire engines to make sure the vehicles are starting, there is water in the fire trucks and the firefighting equipment is always there,” he said.
Mr Phiri also addressed criticism that the Bulawayo Fire Brigade only attended to the fire after a significant amount of time had passed.
“The fire could have started 45 minutes earlier but nobody contacted the fire brigade. However, once that person came to the fire station to report the incident, we immediately left with him to attend to the scene and within five minutes we were at the scene. Unfortunately, the roof had already collapsed and nothing could be done,” he said.
Mr Phiri urged members of the public to contact the fire brigade as soon as possible if they see a fire.
The Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs, Judith Ncube, on Sunday said she would meet the Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, over the matter.
This was after a relative complained that the fire brigade attended the fire without water.
The fire, said to have been caused by an electrical fault, occurred at about 9PM, killing Prisca Mushore, the mother of 2015 Miss Tourism Bulawayo pageant winner Nadia Gori, and her grandchildren Stacey Mushore (13) and Brendon Moyo (9) who were burnt beyond recognition.
The three were buried at Athlone Cemetery on Sunday.
The burial service was attended by Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Raj Modi, Permanent Secretary in Vice President Kembo Mohadi’s office, Reverend Paul Damasane and MDC-Alliance Bulawayo Central legislator Mrs Nicola Watson. The Chronicle