Tshwane rejects assistance from volunteer firefighters

The City of Tshwane was yesterday still putting out two fires that started at the weekend after refusing help from volunteers.

- Marizka Coetzer

DA Tshwane spokesperson for community safety Ally Makhafula on Friday said a fire broke out at a tyre factory in Pretoria North and while needing all the help it could get, the city refused private firefighters' assistance.

The city's fire engines struggled to access water at hydrants, while the private fire brigade had a fire engine with water and was ready to go.

The city's emergency services department acting spokesperson Lindsay Zwelithini Mnguni said they were busy with the last phase of extinguishing a fire that broke out in Pretoria West on Friday at a tyre factory.

Mnguni said damping down operations were underway.

He said the city's emergency safety department had sufficient capacity on site, which included 57 firefighters, seven command staff, five water tankers, two fire engines, one ladder truck, one mobile command unit, one hazardous materials unit, two district commander vehicles, two foam tenders and two rapid intervention units to carry out fire fighting operations.