Cape Town Firefighters has laced up for charity run to support Volunteer Wildfire Services. The City boys are back and has geared up for Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathons. This year in 2025, they will eb joined by the former Springbok hooker – James Dalton for 21.1 kms run to raise some much-needed funds for the Volunteer Wildfire Services.
The charity run began as a light-hearted challenge in 2017 and now has become an annual run to cast a spotlight on the critical work of the Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS). The firefighters – Jermaine Carelse and Renaldo Duncan were at the heart of the origin story, they were joined by the two volunteer firefighters last year from VWS and this year the scrum will be joined by the former Springbok – James Dalton.
James Dalton cleared that running this race for VWS is a privilege. These men and women have put their lives on the line to protect the communities and the natural landscapes of the Western Cape, and they do it without hesitation.
According to Dalton, the least he can do is to lace up his running shoes to help them secure the resources they need to keep fighting fires. If they can raise enough funds to purchase a new vehicle for their fleet, that will make a real difference in their ability to respond swiftly and effectively.
VWS is one of the organisations that are involved in protecting Cape Town from the devastating wildfires that characterise summer in Cape Town.
Recently, in few years, the number has increased steadily with 9,498 non-structural fires recorded between Oct 2024 to Mar 12, 2025 as compared to 9,135 during the same period as the previous year.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith said that the partnerships they have with other firefighting entities such as the Volunteer Wildfire Services is critical to the efforts to protect Cape Town.
Smith added that the VWS runs on the generosity of donors and passion of the volunteer firefighters. The matching passion of the firefighting duo of Jermaine Carelse and Renaldo Duncan and the city people have one of the most heart-warming initiatives that not only pays tribute to VWS and the work they do, but also the fire safety awareness.
Moreover, this year in 2025, Jermaine and Renaldo will once again compete in the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon in their firefighting and self-containing breathing apparatus which weigh an additional 10 kg.
They will be joined by the VWS volunteer firefighters – Liam Gannon and Thomas Lennon, with James Dalton who aims to keep their pace with the group.
Considering this, the Chief Marketing Officer at Volunteer Wildfire Services – Jenny Scheffers said that VWS is a registered NGO. They rely on public and corporate donations to cover essential operating costs such as fuel, vehicle maintenance, training and personal protective equipment for the volunteer firefighters.
At present, they have approx. 350 volunteers responding to fire calls whenever possible. It has been yet another demanding fire season and they are not out of the woods yet.
According to Scheffers, their vehicles are in desperate need of replacement. They hope that funds raised through this initiative will allow us to purchase at least one rugged terrain vehicle to get the firefighters to the front lines. Also, if anyone feels inspired by the runners and the dedication of the firefighters, they encourage others to make a donation to help them continue the work.