The ranks of the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service were boosted when 51 new firefighters were officially welcomed today. The new recruits will hit the ground running in time for the busy summer season.
The new firefighters recently completed their eight-month training course after making it through the rigorous 2018 recruitment process.
‘Firefighters must undergo hours of training and prove their proficiency, which is by no means easy. Our new firefighters can be very proud of their achievements and for joining the Fire and Rescue Service,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, who delivered the keynote address at the graduation ceremony.
Firefighters control and extinguish fires, respond to emergency situations and primarily protect people, the environment and property from accidents and emergencies.
‘Our firefighters work closely with the local community to increase fire safety awareness in order to help prevent fires and accidents from happening in the first place,’ said Alderman Smith.
The group of 51 had to pass a tough physical assessment, followed by interviews and then eight months of training in various modules including Firefighter 1, Hazardous Materials Awareness and First-Aid Level 3.
At their graduation ceremony in Epping, the new firefighters were presented with their rank and badge, with the former pinned to the corners of their shirt collars and the badge above the left shirt pocket. They are now permanent members of staff and will be deployed to various fire stations across the metropole.
New recruit, Nomvuyiseko Lungile from Khayelitsha said the path to becoming a firefighter wasn’t easy, but she did it to serve her community and to help protect lives and property.
Dane Smidt was a seasonal firefighter for five years before becoming a learner firefighter.
‘I became a firefighter mainly to serve my community and show care for others,’ he said.
The summer season is traditionally the service’s busiest time of year and will put the new firefighters through their paces and test their newly-acquired skills.
The Fire and Rescue Service noted a near 9% increase in vegetation fires year-on-year, between 2018 and 2019. This in turn increased the overall number of fires that firefighters responded to – just over 70% of all fires are vegetation fires.
‘Summer is the fun, holiday season and at the same time we want to urge residents to act responsibly as it’s also the time there are high demands on our firefighters. Saving lives and property are their priority and I am confident our firefighters are able to step up to the plate. Added to our efforts is that we’ll soon deploy our team of seasonal firefighters,’ added Alderman Smith.
