Cape Town - Our firefighters are under attack.
The brave men and women who put their safety on the line every day to save our lives, homes and environment are increasingly becoming the targets of cowardly criminals.
So violent and rife were the attacks on City firefighters through stoning and other onslaughts, that 90 of them were suffering from severe trauma and had to go for counselling.
With the windy summer approaching – bringing with it the seasonal home and veld fires – there are fears of an increase in attacks.
A City report, seen by the Cape Argus, paints a scary picture for firemen and women.
“This report has been collated to outline the damage caused to fire appliances as well as injuries sustained by firefighters – both physically and mentally – as a result of these events during the current financial year,” it reads.
The report identified hot spots for crimes against the fire service – Gugulethu, Wallacedene, Bloekombos, Khayelitsha and Mfuleni.
The report said the City had taken interventions, including 44 internal trauma counselling processes attended by 90 fire services staff this financial year.
The City recorded 13 stoning attacks, but did not respond to a query about the costs of damages at the time of writing.
In the report, chief fire officer Ian Schnetler and executive director Vincent Botto said while the report details incidents, it “doesn’t reflect the full extent of the effect these incidents have on the fire service employees”.
The report added some staff members refused trauma counselling, which could possibly result in latent trauma.
The report recorded 13 stoning incidents, most of which targeted the windscreens of fire vehicles in the current financial year.
Ex-city fireman Luahn Albertyn, who has also worked as a paramedic, said: “I’m not only aware of the violence, I’ve experienced it both as a fireman and a paramedic in the city.
“It makes our job a lot harder to serve the community. It’s a small group that disrupts us from doing our jobs. The trauma weighs heavy on all firefighters and they become reluctant to go to certain areas.”
Albertyn, who works as a paramedic in London, said he noticed the crimes against City fire services when he joined in 2015, but it escalated during summer.
The report said: “That our staff are being harassed, attacked and verbally assaulted, is a matter of great concern.
“In addition to the physical and mental harm caused, these incidents create a service delivery problem because they have a direct impact on the number of staff being on duty when affected staff are deemed to be unfit for duty for a period of time.”
The report said damages to City vehicles constrained the vehicle fleet, budget and service delivery.
These damaged vehicles were out of service for long periods, but the fire and rescue service has alternative fire appliances, the report said.
Safety and security Mayco member JP Smith said uniformed enforcement services were given bulletproof vests as part of their uniform.
He echoed the statements in the report and said criminal attacks on firefighters had become “far too commonplace” in recent years.
“All other staff in various departments are sensitised to potential hot spot areas, based on incidents or intelligence received,” Smith said.
“In the event that they are called out to areas where the risk to their safety is high, they are able to request an enforcement escort to facilitate entry and egress from the area.”
But Albertyn said escorting officers were not always available as they had their own mandates to prioritise.
“If people aren’t stoning the fire trucks, they threaten or harass the firefighters trying to get to the front-line or even cut their hoses,” Smith said.
“It’s unbelievable that the very people the firefighters are trying to protect are causing delays, effectively resulting in a much higher cost both to the affected community and the City.
“Residents need to realise that we are not the enemy and this type of behaviour could rob them of a potential life-saving service.”
He said attacks on fire services spiral to potential shortages of staff due to emotional trauma, which leads to backlogs in attending to service requests.
When staff do not enter areas unless escorted, that means the service delivery takes longer to reach communities.