Residents who put their trust in the Makhado Fire Station to assist them in case of an emergency had better not hold their breath in the hope that they will be able to help.

The local station has no fire emergency trucks available after their last available truck was damaged beyond repair in an accident on Friday, 18 March. In all fairness, it is important to note that it is not the station’s fault per se that they currently cannot carry out their duties towards the community.

The newspaper was able to determine from a reliable source that the accident occurred near the Vuwani Fire Training Centre and Fire Station. While on duty, the driver of the truck allegedly swerved to avoid running over a pedestrian crossing the road. The truck left the road and capsized.

This vehicle, the last remaining fire truck of the Makhado Fire Station, was issued to the station for the specific use of assisting in emergencies in and around Louis Trichardt. The only other fire truck the Makhado station has, has been in the repair shop for well over a year now after its gearbox reportedly broke down.

The last remaining fire truck was deployed to the Vuwani Fire Training Centre and Fire Station to help them out until such time that the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) could procure their own vehicles. During a handing-over ceremony of new emergency bakkies at the Thohoyandou Fire Station in April last year, the then acting general manager of community services, Ms Ntshavhiseni Demana, said they “are still planning to procure more vehicles in order to beef up two newly opened fire stations, namely Vuwani in Makhado and Xigalo in Malamulele.” She also promised that the Ramushwana Fire Station (in Thohoyandou, Vuwani, Xigalo and Makhado) would each receive two vehicles, while the Mutale and the Obed Mashaba Station in Musina would receive one vehicle each. Demana gave no indication as to how and when this promise by the VDM would be fulfilled.

About two months before the handing-over ceremony took place, the Zoutpansberger reported on how the Makhado Fire Station failed to save the life of a man. The man, a truck driver, was trapped underneath the wrecked cabin of his truck, following an accident along the N1 north in early February 2015. Despite the local firemen’s best efforts to free the man, he passed away hours after the accident – still trapped beneath his truck’s cabin. At that stage, the firemen at the scene revealed that they had struggled to save the man as a result of outdated and dilapidated equipment.

In the meantime, the newspaper approached the VDM last week in the hope of getting some clarification as to how the Makhado Fire Station would be able to respond to an emergency without any fire trucks, especially during the busy Easter weekend period. VDM spokesperson Mr Matodzi Ralushai, in an email, merely responded by stating that, despite the state of affairs at the Makhado Fire Station, other emergency vehicles in the district would be able to absorb the responsibility. He added that, should the need arise, emergency vehicles could be summoned from Thohoyandou and Musina.