First responders to the Usindiso Building fire have rejected the testimony of witnesses who alleged the first fire engines which responded to the scene had little to no water.
Emergency Services officials made a second appearance before the commission of inquiry into the fire which claimed over 70 lives in August last year.
Johannesburg emergency services official, Rapule Thipa said no fire engines left the scene to refill.
“That is the fire engine that is coming from the fire station. It has the same pumping capacity, the same capacity of water as our fire engine, 3000l of water. This is water that we carry daily to respond to initial fire attack (sic),” says Thipa.
Thipa told the commission that there was public interference from the community when firefighters arrived on the scene. In an attempt to assist firefighters, survivors grabbed the fire hose from the truck and directed it towards the fire.
Meanwhile, the City of Johannesburg is said to have embarked on a tender process to procure new equipment to ramp up its emergency services department.
Monageng told the commission that the Usindiso building fire was the most shocking scene he had ever attended to in his career. He says the rate that the fire spread was shocking.
