A fire that broke out at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital was the fourth to hit public facilities in Gauteng in just over a month, raising serious concerns and suspicion.
On Tuesday night, a fire broke out at an unused parking area at the hospital. There were no injuries or fatalities reported.
City of Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Nana Radebe-Kgiba said the fire was contained within 40 minutes. “We received the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital structural call at 22h03. On arrival, crews found a room in the parking basement smouldering,” said Radebe-Kgiba.
Provincial health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the cause of the fire was still unknown. “...The smouldering fire that was detected at an unused parking bay has been brought under control. Late on Tuesday night, security personnel reported that there was smoke that seemed to be coming from one of the structures.
“Firefighters for the City of Joburg immediately responded to the situation and managed to contain the fire, which was confined to a small section of the level two parking. The Hillbrow SAPS also went on site after the matter was reported to them,” said Modiba.
He said the parking is one of the areas that was affected by the April 2021 fire, and is currently under props and not accessible to the public or staff, except to construction workers.
“Upon assessment of the situation, clinicians on-site together with the facility’s head of disaster made a call that the situation did not warrant for patients to be evacuated as the smoke from the fire was not too thick or high risk for inhalation. Services at the facility continue to be rendered as normal,” said Modiba.
He said a multidisciplinary team was on site to monitor the situation. In April 2021, a fire gutted parts of the hospital.
Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria has had two fires in a space of two weeks. The first was reported on May 30 when temporary structures were destroyed. On June 12, several linen items were burnt in a blaze, which started in a closet in a medical ward.
On June 22, a fire broke out in an open space where there were tents used for Covid-19 testing at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Diepkloof, Soweto. It spread to the laundry site where it damaged linen awaiting disposal.
“It concerns us that there are fires happening. It is too coincidental that we are having so many fires at our facilities. It makes us suspicious.
“The law enforcement authorities should investigate and find out the cause of these fires. We do not want to speculate. We want answers from the police as to what caused these fires,” said Modiba.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Sello said an inquiry has been opened following the recent fire that broke out at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.
''The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage pending the fire forensic analysis report,’’ said Sello. Sello confirmed that no case was opened with the police with regards to the fire at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and one of the fires at Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
''There is no report of a fire during June 2022 at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital at Diepkloof police station which is responsible for policing that area. With regard to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, one case was reported and the cause is unknown as the fire forensic report to determine the cause is still outstanding,’’ said Sello.
She said the cause of the April fire could not be determined.'' The results were inconclusive,’’ she said.
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