Cape Town - With soaring summer temperatures usually resulting in devastating wildfires, the Western Cape government is expected to pump R16 million into firefighting efforts.
Wildfire season traditionally runs from November to May in the province, with more than 15 000 fires reported in the region each year.
Human behaviour has been reported to be the No 1 cause of wildfires.
Environmental affairs and development planning MEC Anton Bredell, who visited the Newlands Fire Base Station this week to engage with senior firefighting personnel, said he was satisfied with preparations and readiness to manage wildfires.
He said the Western Cape Rapid Response Strategy, initiated in 2012, would again be implemented this year.
“This strategy is based on the premise that expensive aerial support should be made available sooner rather than later.
“This strategy has resulted in a historic success rate of more than 90% of fires being extinguished within the first hour of being reported. Aerial support is expensive, but it is much cheaper than the damage that might be caused by a runaway wildfire.”
According to Bredell, there is a memorandum of understanding between all municipalities in the province, ensuring that when a wildfire occurs the closest firefighting unit will immediately make resources available and can also call on other units for assistance.
“Western Cape Disaster Management Centre, in partnership with the City of Cape Town, Cape Winelands Municipality, and SANParks, will have access to 24 planes and helicopters this season.
“We are preparing for up to three aerial missions per day during the height of the summer,” he said.
Bredell said the provincial Disaster Management Centre also played a crucial co-ordination role.
The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries’ Working on Fire (WOF) programme spokesperson, Limakatso Khalianyane said their preparations included starting the annual Yellow Card Training (YCT) for summer fire season readiness in Tulbagh and George.
“More than 800 firefighters from the Western and Southern Cape have being going through a gruelling three days refresher training to ensure that they are physically and mentally prepared to protect the province from aggressive fires. The YCT is one of the final preparations the province has embarked on as they get ready for the upcoming summer fire season, which is expected to start on December 1, 2022,” said Khalianyane.
She explained that the training refreshes firefighting skills and tests physical and mental fitness to ensure that the crews are ready to tackle the fires.
WOF provincial general manager, Melany Duthie-Surtie wished all firefighters the best and encouraged them to give their best.
“We are getting all our resources ready, firefighters, vehicles and everything, to make sure they are compliant to the safety standard, so that we will be able to fight fires with their best abilities while keeping themselves as safe as possible,” she said.
Cape Times