Durban - A firefighter was injured while fighting a blaze that broke out at an informal settlement in the Durban south area. It is believed that he stepped on illegal electrical connections while fighting the fire.
On Thursday, just after 8pm, eThekwini Fire and various emergency services raced to the scene in Sidar Road in Clairwood.
"A member of the eThekwini Fire and Rescue Services who was fighting the fires suffered an electrocution injury from illegal connections in the area. Emer-G-Med paramedics attended to the man on the scene and he later refused further hospital care," said Emer-G-Med spokesperson, Kyle van Reenen.
He said no other injures had been reported.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said all emergency personnel including disaster management teams attended the scene to monitor the situation.
"One of our firefighters survived electrocution by illegal electricity connections while extinguishing fire. We urge members of the community to partner with the city to rid our communities of 'izinyokanyoka' (illegal electricity operators) as they are proving to be a serious threat to members of the community and emergency personnel, whose sole responsibility is to save lives," he said.
Mayisela said teams will visit the site on Friday to conduct an assessment of the damage and commence with the process of providing relief to those affected.
Less than two weeks ago, three people were killed when a fire broke out in the Clairwood industrial area.
Mayisela said the fire was caused by a petrol tanker that caught fire.
Petrol flowed down to the river and a secondary fire started in a Transnet pipe.
IOL