Cape Town: The city will be celebrating the International Firefighters Day, on the coming Saturday. Every year the town commemorates the day on May 04 to recognise and honour the sacrifices of the firefighters to save the lives and property of the city people.
From the past few years, the Fire & Rescue Service has held a series of very successful open days at a number of fire stations, where the citizens could visit on the day to learn more about firefighting, fire safety and to get a closer look at the fire engines, equipment, etc.
As the International Firefighters Day is falling on weekend on Saturday, May 4 this year, the service is putting event that is free to all, at the Athlone Stadium, at the Corner of Cross Boulevard and Klipfontein Road, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
At the event, visitors will be treated to a firefighter fitness challenge, vehicle rescue demonstrations, fire prevention awareness and static displays. The visitors can also participate in firefighting drills with the staff and have their picture taken in fire gear.
Considering this, Alderman JP Smith has stated that it has been a long, hot and busy summer. And what could be a better way to show our firefighters some love and appreciation and have a good time to boot.
“I encourage everyone to bring their families and friends and come out to share in this very special commemorative day,” said Alderman Smith.
He further added that it’s not often that the firefighters have enough downtime to really engage with the public and so this is a really good opportunity to learn more about them and just have some fun.
This year the particularly signifies the Cape Town firefighters who have been remained busy throughout the summer to save and the lives and calm the fire in the Cape Town.
The International Firefighters Day hits the town at the time of the year when the Cape Town’s summers season is winding down.
2024 Summer has proven to be one of the most challenging, hot, dry and extremely windy, contributing to the conditions to an increase of 28% in its vegetation fires that is compared to the same period the previous year.
Reportedly, the number of overall incidents has went up by 15%. Each summer, sees the city contracts the services of aerial support craft – two helicopters and a spotter plane.
As per the sources, during the summer off 2022-23, the helicopters have logged 68-hours and the spotter plane 38.
Preliminary indications are that since 1 December 2023, the helicopters logged at least 280 hours, and the spotter plane 132 hours.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security Alderman – JP Smith said that the fire statistics confirms everything, what we all know is that this has been one of the busiest summer periods on record.
He added that the number of residential fires has saw a slight decrease as it is cold comfort to those who lost loved ones and everything they owned. “Throughout the challenges, our firefighters have stood tall and I applauded their bravery and commitment,” said JP Smith.
Alderman Smith continued and said, “The city will continue to invest in the Fire and Rescue Service for the benefit of the residents, but also to those who are wearing the uniform and working hard to help and keep everyone safe.”
