eThekwini Municipality’s preparedness to deal with fires is a concern for environmental groups

Environmental groups in Durban have raised concerns about the eThekwini Municipality’s preparedness to deal with fires and the measures in place to mitigate against the events.

This comes after a fire broke out at the China Mall building in the Durban CBD on Friday.

The fire burned through the weekend forcing the city to issue an advisory for residents to stay clear of areas in and around the fire.

Rico Euripidou, an environmental health campaigner at Groundwork, says the incident brings into question the city’s enforcement of fire regulations on businesses.

“It seems in eThekwini, the preparedness for fires and the measures in place to mitigate these fires in absent. This is apparent because of the fire at the UPL factory.”

“There are numerous fires in the south Durban basin, especially around the oil refinery and also plastic factories etc. So we are worried in eThekwini … the measures that are meant to take as a routine to prevent fires is not happening,” adds Euripidou.

Durban businesses count the losses after China Emporium building fire: