It continues to offer state-of-the-art service in the city and surrounding urban centres.A ZDDT correspondent recently paid a visit to Famona Fire Station. There was a “firecall” in Douglasdaleand a detachment was dispatched to the scene within minutes.
The stipulated reaction time for a fire fighting team to reach the scene, within the perimeters of “Greater Bulawayo”, is 10 minutes.This only goes to show that the department is responding well to the needs of people in the area.
The force is, however, still ill equipped and plagued by a severeshortage of both human and material resources. The Fire and Ambulance Service Department is divided into three sub-sections. The first section deals with training, operations andcommunications. The second is for fire prevention and administration and thelast is the ambulance division.
The head of the FirePrevention and Administration section, Senior Divisional Officer, Edward Mpofu said the primary duty of the rescue services division was to prevent the outbreak of fire.
“We carry out fire risk surveys within industry, commercialand residential properties. We also inspect building plans to ensure thatwhatever is developed in this city complies with the Local Authority’sregulations.
‘’For example, if one wants to build a factory, we have to check thebuilding plan to see what fire protection measures have been put in place inthat development. We also carry out fire awareness campaigns throughout thecity as part of our mandate as fire prevention. ‘’We have taken on a number of fire prevention activities in the2011/2012 calendar. Other than fire awareness campaigns, we also advise thepublic on fire safety measures. As a department, we are saying, let’s preventthose fires so that the limited resources that we have can be utilised elsewhere,” said Mpofu.
A charitable organisation from the United Kingdom, Operation Florian, has been working with the local Fire and Rescue Department to enhance servicedelivery. The team of volunteers has been training local personnel inadvanced fire fighting techniques and skills. In addition to theseinvaluable training workshops, Operation Florian also donated fire fightingequipment and appliances to boost the capacity of the local team.
Post published in: News