In the event of a fire in the area, the fire department should not have any difficulty finding hydrants after they were tested and given a face-lift during a unique A Re Sebetseng clean-up campaign in Ward 89.
The councillor for the ward, Amelia Bester, led this not-so-usual clean-up in Weltevreden Park with the help of the employees from the office of the Regional Director, Mlamleli Belot, Johannesburg Water and the Panorama Residents Association (PRA).
The initiative targeted hydrants that were not easily visible, clearing away the dirt and shrubs surrounding them and repainting the hydrant road markings to make sure that they were identifiable again.
Dave Baxter, the PRA chairperson, who went the extra mile by sponsoring paint and labour from his company, explained how non-identifiable fire hydrants were a challenge in the case of an inferno.
“The main need was identifying fire hydrants, because in the past, when we have been called out, the fire department has had difficulty in finding or plugging into the hydrants to fight the fire,” he said.
He added that the even if the firefighters did find the hydrant, “… the state they were in wasted time, as they had to be dug free of the ground before hoses could be connected to start fighting the fire,” he explained.
Amelia, who was hands-on in repainting the hydrant markers, said the project was the result of calls from various security groups who expressed concern about the state of the hydrants.
“They have been requesting this assistance for some time, and it was an ideal project for A Re Sebetseng. Many of these hydrants had not been serviced in years and the road-markings had worn off,” said an excited Amelia, who also cited that the initiative was the first of its kind in the city.
Several streets were attended to; however, due to time constraints, some areas could not be reached. Amelia said however, that she has requested maps indicating where the hydrants are located in the ward, so that the Residents Associations can head their own marking initiatives in their respective areas. “We will make these maps available to them and they can go out in their respective areas and paint the markings during the next A Re Sebentseng day (next Saturday of the month),” she said, adding that demonstrations will be conducted on how the painting is done. “Unfortunately, the RAs will not be able to service the hydrants, but they can clear out the dirt around them and if they see a need for servicing, they can log the necessary call,” she explained.
Belot expressed joy at seeing residents roll up their sleeves on such initiatives. “The key thing is that residents are not folding their arms and expecting things to be done for them, instead they are working with the councillor as well as the officials to make sure that things that are troubling the councillor are dealt with incrementally,” he explained.
By the end of this project, 40 hydrants had been serviced.
