Bulawayo councillors have been urged to work with the city’s Fire and Ambulance Department to conduct fire prevention awareness campaigns in their wards as the summer season approaches and the risk of veld fires increases.
Ward 2 councillor Rendani Moyo said councillors could easily engage the department to educate residents about fire prevention, emergency response and the safe use of different energy sources.
Moyo made the call during a Full Council meeting where councillors discussed the department’s work across the city.
Councillors praised the department’s response to emergencies, with some describing it as the best in the country in terms of response times.
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“They come and give pertinent information relating to fire prevention and what to do in case of fire emergency. This is something that I want to encourage fellow policymakers to also do in their wards,” Moyo said.
He said residents needed to take extra care as summer approached because of the increased risk of veld fires.
“Now as we approach the summer season, we are going to have a lot of these veld fires and there are other matters that we also need to pay attention to as residents in the city. For instance, we use liquid petroleum for cooking, that is a potential source of a fire hazard,” he said.
Moyo also urged residents to take precautions when using solar energy systems and batteries, which have become more common because of power supply problems.
“Because of our power supply challenges at household level, we are also installing a lot of solar energy installations and we need to be careful with those. There are a lot of issues around solar batteries and the Fire and Ambulance section has got information and stipulations on how we can be safe as we use those sources of energy,” he said.
He also highlighted the growing use of hybrid vehicles, which use both fuel and electrical power, saying residents needed to understand the potential risks associated with the technology.
“We also have an influx of what we know is hybrid vehicles. They use petroleum and they also have electrical power. Those vehicles are good and bad at the same time. It is also important for us to know what we are getting into as we are using those vehicles,” he said.
Moyo urged councillors to use the Fire and Ambulance Department’s expertise to educate residents about the risks associated with different energy sources and technologies.
“It is therefore important to engage this Fire and Ambulance section so that we can be able to share this information with residents in our communities. From my own experience, I’ve learned that they are just a phone call away if you want to organise an awareness campaign for the benefit of residents in our communities,” he said.
However, Ward 6 councillor Nkosinathi Hove-Mpofu said some parts of the city, particularly Cowdray Park, lacked the infrastructure needed to ensure a rapid response to major fires.
He said poor roads and inadequate fire hydrants in parts of Cowdray Park could hamper the Fire and Ambulance Department’s response.
“We hear all that you are saying about what the Fire and Ambulance Department is doing, but we are wondering if the same can be experienced in Cowdray Park. Your Worship, if we are to have similar fires in there, at Esgodweni area to be specific, we will not have the same testimonies,” Hove-Mpofu said.
“We need to have proper roads and fire hydrants too if we are to speak the same language as other wards. We are currently fortunate because we do not have many fire incidents.”
Hove-Mpofu also called on the council to speed up plans to establish a fire station in Cowdray Park before the area experiences a major emergency.
“There was mention that there is supposed to be a fire station in Cowdray Park, can that be worked on promptly before we get incidents that may negatively affect us,” he said.
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