The Sunday Mail
Fatima Bulla —
On several occasions, we have heard of the ill-preparedness of the Harare Fire Brigade. Stories have been told of how they have arrived late to put off a fire, with insufficient water to douse the flames.
They might be under-resourced, but these brave men and women’s mandate is to confront life threatening situations to save priceless lives and property.
Sadly, three Harare City Council fire fighters were seriously burnt in October while trying to rescue a person who was trapped inside a raging inferno at an illicit beer brewing plant in Graniteside, Harare.
The fire was reportedly caused by 30 000 litres of ethanol. While two of the three fire-fighters — Tapera Chipara and Naboth Zvaita —are still in South Africa receiving treatment, Wisdom Yonam is now recuperating from his home in Mbare.
Narrating his ordeal, Yonam said the fateful Sunday morning began like any other usual shift. There was a handover, they prayed, checked vehicles and supplies and tested equipment.
“After about an hour, we had just finished checking our vehicles. We heard the fire bells. There was a fire in Graniteside and a factory was alight.
“We got to Graniteside and observed that a side of the building was burning and we started fighting the fire from outside since all the exits were blocked. I am not sure of the minutes we took fighting the fire from outside. Someone came and told us that a worker was trapped inside.
“We enquired what the company dealt with. If I am not mistaken, they spoke of packaging, they never mentioned anything about ethanol,” Yonam said.
The officers decided that three of them should get inside the building to save the trapped person. One was to continue fire fighting while the other two searched for the trapped man.
Yonam and his two counterparts put on their suits and oxygen tanks before breaking the doors to gain entrance into the building.
“As we were searching the building, we fought the fire from inside for about 10 or so minutes. We doused the flames on the other side of the building and were approaching the other expansive side of the warehouse.
Then all hell broke loose, there was an explosion that forced them to kneel down due to the huge impact.
“The next thing, there was a ball of fire coming our way. It covered the whole place and l couldn’t see what was a metre away from me.
“The temperatures shifted at that time and we were in the fire. We had to make our way out although it wasn’t easy because it was not a straight passage. It was very difficult to manoeuvre out. Maybe we could have ran towards the exit if the passage was straight,” he said.
With their sense of direction lost, the fire fighters had to use the basic fire fighting skill of following the fire hose out just as it had led them in, ensuring they stuck together as required.
“During the explosion, the ethanol splashed on us. The tunics we put on are fire resistant but since the ethanol had splashed on the fire gears, the ethanol was burning them and we knew we were on fire.
“We were putting on face masks with our oxygen tanks so the faces were protected. But when the ethanol exploded, the ethanol sipped through my leather glove on to my wrist,” said the father-of-one.
“The pain coming from the wrist was unbearable. I still remember it was like a saw cutting through my wrist. I decided it was better to expose my hand to the flames rather than leaving it in the burning gloves. I removed the glove and threw it in the fire.
“Even the doctors later agreed that I did the correct thing, they said if I had kept the glove on I would have probably lost my arm.
“As all this was happening, we were encouraging each other to stick together. We vowed that no one would remain behind.”
Yonam sustained severe burns on his hand, back, shoulders and thighs. However, with nine years experience in the profession, he is not prepared to quit despite the traumatic incident.
“Fire fighting is different from other professions, it’s a calling. You have to get into a place where everyone else is being evacuated. It comes from the heart. You tell yourself, ‘I am trained for this, I have to help the next person, I have to save the property, I have to render aid to the next person.’
“So regardless of the magnitude of the fire, there is something that comes from deep within that says I am going to help this person because if I don’t who will because everyone else is running away from the fire. So that is what keeps me going.
“If I look at it, the number of people that I have assisted, be it in fire fighting, saving their property and rescuing others from road traffic accidents, I always have this joy that comes within me. So l won’t quit because of that incident, saving life and property is more important.”
Among other precious moments, Mr Yonam savours having saved musician Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave’s house from burning.
“Fungisai’s neighbour was burning rubbish. Bamboos at Fungisai’s house caught fire and lit part of her house. We got in there as parts of the tiles were already on fire. However, we extinguished the fire before it lit her home. It was the gratefulness that she showed that stays with you. You are just happy in such circumstances that you have saved someone.
“The other incident was when a bus travelling to Masvingo just after Beatrice hit a tree and the driver died on the spot. The conductor was trapped just behind the driver’s seat.
“That evening we responded from Harare and got there while he (conductor) was still alive, crying out. His legs were trapped in the driver’s seat. I was the one who got into the bus, cutting the seats and I had to lift him up. I removed him from the wreckage, just seeing him smiling made me so happy,” Yonam said.
Such is the life of fire fighters, filled with so much danger and joy.
Sandra, wife to Yonam, said until the recent incident, she had taken her husband’s work for granted.
“Now I have a different perspective of fire fighting. We had never experienced such an incident. I just perceived it as any other job saying my husband is going to work, he will come back. Sometimes he would come and explain the day’s experiences but we never expected that one day we would receive a phone call that he was the one who had been involved in such an incident.
“We stand on prayer. Fire fighting is a calling for him. With the way he explains how it all happened, I see a hero. He fights for other people’s lives. Whenever we look at the wounds, we are celebrating life,” she said.
Assistant divisional officer at Harare Fire Station, Raphael Mundembe said although he worries about the lives he couldn’t save in his 16 years on the job, he has a chance to carry on and improve.
“As the fire brigade we are well trained to save as many lives as possible,” Mundembe said.
Assistant chief fire officer Lovemore Mafukidze narrated the strength that characterises fire fighters.
“A fire fighter leaves his or her home not knowing if they will return injured or uninjured due to the nature of their job.
“You cannot tell what you are going to encounter so it’s quite a nerve wrecking situation.
“Sometimes people get certificates of occupation but change their approved activities to do something else such that fire fighters encounter unexpected challenges when they go on their rescue missions.
“If things were being done the correct way, they would know what kind of business a company deals in. They would know the qualities the burning material they will be dealing with.”
He said fire fighters are often haunted when they fail to save lives.
“In certain circumstances they fail due to circumstances beyond their control. In this situation for example, they went to douse a fire and didn’t know what was inside. Their endeavour was to rescue but unfortunately the person they wanted to save died inside there.
The assistant chief fire officer said the recruitment for fire fighters is rigorous as they search for individuals who can save themselves as well as others.
“There is a three-year process in which the fire fighter is assessed in practical and theoretical aspects of the job. After that, they become a fire-fighter and are now allowed promotional examination. There are several screening stages.
“Also, a fire fighter must be able to rescue his or her partner when they move in pairs. When another fire fighter collapses, you must be able to pick up your partner and get out of the building.
“You cannot be taught to become a fire fighter, you can only be given an avenue to become one.”
Asst chief officer Mafukidze said they conduct de-briefings after rescue missions where they reconstruct the incident, looking at how best they could have confronted the situations.
But there are reports that local fire fighters always come late to douse fire and they do so without water.
“A fire tender carries an assortment of equipment and it also carries water. Even the one not running is always filled with water. But the water in the fire tender is what we call first aid water. It’s the water that we use as soon as we get at the scene while we look for alternative sources of water, what we call the street hydrants.
“But if there is no water in Mt Pleasant it means I have to summon a water carrier. We have one which carries 7 000 and another one 8 000 litres of water. Cities are designed with these water reticulation outlets in mind so that when fire fighters are using water in the tank, they can look for a hydrant and connect to their fire fighting appliances. But sometimes you don’t have water in a certain location. Our pumps are very powerful that’s why we normally get there and use hose reels that discharge smaller amounts of water. Though very effective, we will be trying to minimise the discharge while we are getting connection to the street hydrants. So water can run out while we are still trying to locate the street hydrant.”
He dispelling reports that fire fighters respond late.
“You will be surprised that this job gets into your blood. Some officers who left in 2014 had served for 40 years. There is nothing better in life than to save lives,” he said.
