eThekwini's Fire and Rescue Service’s fire fighters respond to Albany Hotel fire
The City of eThekwini's Fire and Rescue Service’s crews responded to a fire that broke in the Albany Hotel in Durban CBD on Saturday morning, 25 February 2023. The City of eThekwini's Fire and Rescue Service’s DC Sifiso Mtshali, who was incident commander on scene, said, “We had Central Fire HQ respond with two rescue appliances (RP37 and RP17), one water carrier from Congela Fire Station along with Jacob's rescue appliance RP09 and myself in Control Vehicle CV09.”
One person was treated for moderate injuries and smoke inhalation. The fire broke out at the Albany Hotel on the corner of Samora Machel and Anton Lembede streets.
DC Mtshali added, “Upon arrival, fire and emergency personnel immediately located the floor where fire originated. All efforts were made to rescue and evacuate all occupants inside the hotel as the smoke had started to spread to other apartments. Full sweep and thorough search was done to ensure there was no one trapped in the building.”
“The fire was fully extinguished by fire and emergency teams. Affected floors were fully barricaded to prevent access until the structural engineer certifies them to be safe for use”, he said.
“There were no fatalities reported, however, there was one occupant who was rushed to hospital after smoke inhalation. Investigation to establish the cause of fire is still underway.”
Advanced Life Support Paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson says, “Paramedics stood by in a waiting area whilst the fire department tackled the blaze and bought out one patient to the ambulance crews. Paramedics assessed the patient who had sustained moderate injuries as a result of the fire including smoke inhalation and stabilised her on the scene before she was transported through to a nearby hospital for further care that she required.”
Source: DC Sifiso Mtshali, City of eThekwini's Fire and Rescue Service