Gauteng CoGTA’s Fire and Rescue conference engages stakeholders on fire safety
During day two of the PIER (Public Information and Education Relation) conference on fire safety today, participants met one of the crucial objectives of PIER by discussing ways that will lead to an integrated approach to fire and life safety education when different speakers from a number of stakeholders shared their knowledge, programmes and experiences on fire safety.
A Fire Services expert from CoGTA National, Mr Godiraone Phetlhu, gave an overview on the role of communities in fire safety and prevention. Phetlhu highlighted that a number of lives lost and injuries sustained due to fires is alarming and continues to increase at an unacceptable rate.
“Currently, many fire services especially from poor areas are unable to provide adequate services to its communities,” Phetlhu said. He added that “the other reality is that fire services in some municipalities are not taken seriously and there is also lack of community involvement.”
“Community involvement is important because they are the first responders. This means they must be at the heart of strategies to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to fires,” Mr Phetlhu added.
He stated that the aim of strategies of ensuring community safety is to protect, preserve life and property and environment through proactive education and awareness programmes. “PIER is one of the strategies for community involvement. It is important for fire services to establish viable partnerships with the communities they serve especially for the purpose of enhancing fire safety,” Phetlhu concluded.
Sharing his experience in his province, Mr Rodney Eksteen of Fire Services in Western Cape shared with attendees their experiences on preventing fire-related deaths in human settlements. “The number of fire-related deaths has increased from an estimated 425 in 1980 to 2276 in 2014,” Eksteen highlighted.
He said most fire-related deaths occur in the dwelling of fire origin and according to Statistics SA, most deaths are of kids between 0 – 6 years. “This must prompt PIER to intensify their awareness campaigns to educate the community, especially the youth,” Eksteen highlighted.
Eksteen mentioned that 70% of fire-related deaths occur during sleeping hours. “During fire, there is limited time to escape; at the most, less than 3 minutes. Fire victims also often die from inhalation,” he said.
Eksteen said that it is for these reasons that they embarked on Smoke Alarms campaigns. “Smoke alarms save lives. Every home should have a smoke alarm. It does not cause much and it is easy to install,” Eksteen concluded.
Meanwhile, Manager of EMS in City of Ekurhuleni, Aaron Mafunda, outlined the importance of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programme. “This is a team in informal settlements trained to be able to prepare for and respond effectively to emergencies and fires until professional responders arrive,” Mafunda said. He added that these teams are being taught basic firefighting and provide a link between neighbourhood and professional responders.
“They are not professional disaster and emergency management practitioners but they are trained on the basics of that area. This is so that when an emergency, disaster or overwhelming incident occurs at an informal settlement; and responders are not immediately available, CERTs will assist with the basics,” Mafunda outlined.
Day Two of the conference also saw the active participation of a number of speakers, within and outside the fire services that highlighted the recent research and concepts of Emergency Services.
Gauteng Pier (Public Information and Education Relation) Working Group was established as a strategic thrust within the Provincial Directorate of Fire and Rescue Services with the primary objective to minimise the economic and social impact of fires, to reduce the risk and improve community safety programmes.
For more information please contact:
Dr Elias Sithole
Cell: 072 933 8977
Mogomotsi Mogodiri
Cell: 063 689 7613
