Joburg firefighter recalls efforts to save toddler from Usindiso building fire
Lucas Thipe is a platoon commander for the Joburg Emergency Services. He was the third witness giving evidence at the commission of inquiry into the Usindiso building fire on Thursday.
Emergency workers at the scene of the deadly Joburg CBD fire that claimed over 70 lives on 31 August 2023. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - A firefighter has recalled how Joburg search and rescue teams struggled to save a two-year-old child during the deadly Marshalltown fire that killed 77 people.
Lucas Thipe is a platoon commander for the Joburg Emergency Services.
He was the third witness giving evidence at the commission of inquiry into the Usindiso building fire on Thursday.
In August, scores of people were left injured after a fire gutted the illegally occupied five-storey building in Marshalltown.
Chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe, the inquiry has heard evidence presented by three firefighters.
Joburg EMS platoon commander, Lucas Thipe, told the inquiry that there were a number of challenges that stood in the way of firefighters on the day of the blaze.
Thiphe described how emergency personnel battled to penetrate the lower-level floors, as he recalled having to tell a mother that they couldn’t save her child.
"A lady came to me, she was screaming and she wanted to go inside to rescue the baby. So, I called the team, I sent them through with a fire attack line. They tried to extinguish the fire to go through to that room and try to search to find the baby. Upon entry, the shortly came back and said there was too much smoke."
He told the commission that the cardboard material used to erect the shacks in the building were a fire hazard and photographic images demonstrated that all fire prevention and safety systems were destroyed.