To celebrate the efforts and the incredible work that the firefighters do, fire stations across the City will be open to the public on Wednesday, 4 May.
This is to give residents an opportunity to learn more about the services and the work that they do to protect them.
The City’s mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, said they want to remind residents that these unsung heroes put their lives on the line selflessly and to save lives.
“Our firefighters not only endure long hours in unbearable heat, but they provide an indispensable service crucial to the safety and security of all our residents,” he said.
He said to mark International Firefighters’ Day, it’s their honour to commend the seasonal firefighters, as well as their permanent staff, within the Fire & Rescue Service.
“The 40 seasonal firefighters augmented the service the past six months, recruited for the summer season to assist with combatting wildfires. Thus enabling the Service to respond to 8 202 vegetation fires between November 2021 and April 2022.
This is in addition to the thousands of emergency calls the Fire & Rescue Service responds to throughout the year – 22 632 to be exact, between 1 May 2021 and 28 April 2022,” he said.
He added that the City’s Fire & Rescue Service boasts 64 fire engines, 29 water tankers, 26 skid units, 17 rescue and 13 aerial vehicles.
Touching on challenges that they encounter, Smith said it is wrong that during the course of their duties they get mugged and sabotaged by the people that they are trying to assist.
“I want to remind residents that these men and women put their lives on the line selflessly and they are there to save the very lives of people who attack them and their equipment. It is unacceptable that during the course of their duties their hoses are sabotaged, vehicles are damaged and they are robbed of City and personal possessions,” he said.
The fire stations which will be open to the public on Wednesday from 11:00 to 18:00 are Atlantis, Belhar, Bellville, Epping, Goodwood, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Kommetjie Road, Kuilsriver, Lakeside, Milnerton, Mitchells Plain, Ottery, Roeland Street, Salt River, Sir Lowry’s, Strand and Wynberg
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Picture: CapeTown ETC