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Malmesbury fire commander Carl Muller

After two days of fighting a number of fires in the Piketberg, a Cape Town fireman fell to his death about 30 metres down the mountain. Two colleagues who had also slipped escaped unharmed.

Fire commander Carl Muller, 32, fell when the ground gave way beneath him on Sunday night after he and six colleagues had been fighting fires in the Moutonshoek Valley, Piketberg since Saturday afternoon.

His wife, Colett Muller, said she “never imagined in a million years” her husband would lose his life while on duty, as he was always very careful.

Muller and a team from the Malmesbury Fire Station were called to assist teams from Piketberg who had been fighting fires for about four days.

He had just returned to work on Saturday after being on holiday with his family.

Metro Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Keri Davids said a rescue team was called to the scene after 11pm.

“According to the EMS incident commander, it is believed that a team of seven firemen had been working on eradicating a fire when the area they were standing on gave way and one of the firemen fell approximately 30 metres down the mountain. He was declared dead on arrival by emergency personnel.”

Davids said the EMS team spent the night with the firemen as it was too late to get them off the mountain.

Muller’s body was airlifted to the Malmesbury morgue on Monday morning.

Speaking from their Durbanville home on Monday, Colett Muller said: “I spoke to him at 9pm and he was fine, he just said they were struggling to get down because they were on a very steep part of the mountain. I told him to be careful and not to fall but he wasn’t worried, so I was fine. He was a good fireman so this was a big shock and I never expected it to happen in a million years.”

Muller said: “He was the best husband and father. My daughter thought the world of him. I still have to break the news to her, she is going to look for her father for a very long time.”

The couple have two children, Elisca, 2, and one-year-old Dian. They were originally from Pretoria and had just visited relatives there.

Muller said: “I think that was the only good thing – that he was able to see all his family. We also celebrated our ninth anniversary last week so we went away for a few days.”

Wilhelm Markus, director of administration and community services at the Moorreesburg Fire Station, said two other firemen also slipped when the ground they were standing on gave way, but were not injured.

“We sent the whole team for counselling and debriefing. They are very traumatised and we had a lot of help from the EMS rescue team who stayed with them through the night and also helped with counselling,” Markus said, adding that Muller was a “dedicated fireman and family man”.

Muller spoke to her husband three times on Sunday.

“Every time we spoke he was at a fire or on his way to another one and he sounded very optimistic because he loved his job. It was absolutely his passion,” she said.

Anton Bredell, MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, expressed his sadness about Muller’s death. - Cape Times

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

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