Cape Town: The Fire & Rescue Service of the City of Cape Town commemorated International Firefighters’ Day at Erica Park in Belhar, with a lot of visual displays and action-packed activities. The event drew a huge crowd and entertained all.
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith, officiated at the opening which began with a cavalcade of firefighting vehicles from Belhar Fire Station to Erica Park.
Reportedly, every year the International Firefighters’ Day is observed on May 04 to honour firefighters for their dedication, commitment, perseverance and to remember those who lost their lives.
The visitors were able to interact with firefighters, experience the various specialised fire vehicles and even had the opportunity to have a closer look at the aerial support craft. One of the major highlights at the event was a competition between fire officers’ vehicle extrication teams.
These are replicating the challenges set at the International World Rescue Challenge. The Fire and Rescue Service of the City of Cape Town gets invited to the Challenge each year.
During the World Rescue Challenge, the participants have to race against time to safely extract and rescue a victim from a simulated vehicle accident scene. Additionally, considering many activities, some adventurous visitors also participated in the fitness challenge tasks.
Alderman JP Smith also said that the past week was an extremely busy and tiring time for the firefighters as they worked around the clock to contain the devastating fire in the Table Mountain National Park, along with hundreds of other fires and special service calls across the metropole.
This makes the celebrations on International Firefighters’ Day all the more special, as they pause to honour their dedication and remember those who have sacrificed their lives to protect others. Smith expressed that he is incredibly proud of Fire and Rescue Service team of the Cape Town. He highly appreciates the incredible work that is done day after day, and he knows that the throngs of people who turned out for the celebrations share that appreciation.