Fighting the fire part of my ‘oath to serve’‚ Trollip tells fire photo critics

Athol Trollip said the oath taken “when sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature requires me to serve and help the people of this country”.

And that’s why he said on Wednesday that he is “not sorry to anyone for helping save the lives and homes of my fellow Nelson Mandela Bay residents”.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality said on Tuesday said that it has launched an internal investigation after pictures emerged of Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate Trollip at a scene where firefighters were busy extinguishing a house fire in a Port Elizabeth suburb at the weekend.

“We launched an internal investigation after claims emerged of DA leader Athol Trollip ‘helping’ fire crews to extinguish a fire‚” municipal spokesman Kupido Baron said.

According to Baron‚ councillor Fikile Desi‚ mayoral committee member for safety and security‚ said that the investigation is “of critical importance as the city cannot allow a situation where professional firemen and women could have been impeded during the execution of their duties”.

But rather than getting in the way‚ Trollip countered that “with no emergency services on the scene yet‚ I could not drive past without helping‚ because I care for the people of this metro”.

“Any person who cares and sees a fire and possessions being burned would jump in and help in any way possible and that is exactly what I‚ various DA councillors and activists did.

“I came to the aid of grief-stricken residents by dousing the flames with buckets of water and hose-pipes‚ and I am not sorry that I did.”

He said the issue was political in that the African National Congress (ANC)‚ “in complaining about my assistance to these people‚ clearly would prefer that people's houses burn down rather than people getting all hands on deck to help”.

“Upon arrival on scene‚ there was no immediate plan to evacuate or assist the residents‚ so the DA got to work by removing personal belongings‚ dousing the flames and assisting traumatised residents.

“Since the blaze‚ the DA has twice returned to the destitute families to donate food and clothing.

“The firemen‚ who arrived on scene some 15 minutes after us‚ were extremely professional and efficient and must be credited for their excellent work.”

On Tuesday‚ TMG Digital reported that Eastern Cape MPL Christian Martin lodged an official complaint against Trollip for “interfering” while firefighters were extinguishing the blaze.

Trollip was pictured assisting fire fighters on Saturday‚ carrying a hose to help douse the fire.

In a letter of complaint to speaker of the provincial legislature‚ Noxolo Kiviet‚ Martin said Trollip had abused his powers and had brought the legislature into disrepute.

According to the municipality‚ three fire machines with crews of at least four professionals per vehicle were dispatched to a house in the suburb of Windvogel at 2.59pm on Saturday.

“Clarity is now sought if the Fire Brigade Services Act was transgressed as members of the public could easily emulate Mr Trollip’s actions by attempting to extinguish a fire without protective clothing and the relevant training while professional men and women are at the scene‚” Baron added.

DA Mandela Bay councillor Sandra Fillis‚ who responded on Trollip’s behalf as she was at the scene at the time‚ said Trollip acted “instinctively” as the DA was the first to arrive on the scene‚ The Herald reported.

“As a caring Bay resident‚ Athol acted instinctively by dousing the flames firstly with buckets of water‚ and then with a hose found lying on the ground nearby.

“Where was Christian Martin while this house was burning?” Fillis said.

However‚ Desi said that “the suggestion that the officials needed help could also send the wrong message as the team deployed to deal with the emergency were sufficient and if help were required reinforcements would have been called for from one of the closest fire stations”.

“The critical question how Mr Trollip managed to get a fire hose to pose for a photo session while flames and smoke are still clearly visible on the publicity pictures must now be answered‚” he added.

TMG Digital/Cape Town Bureau