Cape Town's firefighters and volunteers ready for December fire season
As temperatures are set to rise, the holidays are often associated with a high risk of runaway fires.
City of Cape Town firefighting vehicles. Picture: @CityofCT/X
CAPE TOWN - Cape Town’s firefighters are preparing for the Cape’s December fire season.
As temperatures are set to rise, the holidays are often associated with a high risk of runaway fires.
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Last week, a blaze along Chapmans Peak kept firefighters busy.
This, while their counterparts in the Cape Winelands were battling a blaze on the slopes of Paarl Mountain.
The city’s fire services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said that firefighters and volunteers were ready.
"We’ve got about 230-250 staff on duty and that is covering 32 fire stations. In addition to that, we have on-call staff who work on an on-call roster - group A, B, C and D. So, on that roster, there’s an additional 25 persons as well to assist in the event there’s a big fire."
He added that firefighters would have access to aerial support from December until April, to help monitor fires.
"The City of Cape Town is blessed to have budget where all the firefighters are equipped with the necessary PPT, personal protection equipment, and various amounts of tools to fight, extinguish and contain vegetation fires in and around the city’s district."