As Los Angeles is battling one of the worst raging veld fires of its time, at least 16 people have died and already 12 000 structures have been destroyed.
While investigations are underway, media has reported how firefighters were left with insufficient water pressure, hydrants that weren't working and entire water reservoirs found empty.
In Cape Town, we have long established the need for being self-dependent in times of emergency response. With a national water supply under continuous threat, our Fire & Rescue has spent years investing in alternative sources of water, vital in times of a crisis.
Such as our new Sir Lowrys Pass fire station, with its own independent water reservoir. More than this, we have invested heavily into an entire fleet of water tankers, each able to carry up to 16 000l of water, that we send along to any major incident to back up our major pumpers.
This ensures we can keep all of our fire engines linked to a sufficient water source at all times. We have also invested in additional equipment, such as our "floating pumps" that we can place within any water body and keep on supplying water to our firefighters on the front lines.
But all this is useless if the fire begins high up in the mountains and encircles an entire community before making its descent. This became a reality a year ago, as a fire raced through the peaks of the Table Mountain Natiinal Park, threatening the communities of Simonstown, Oceanview, Kommetjie and the Red Hill informal settlement.
To better protect our residents, we contract 2 Huey helicopters for the fire season, from December until April. Each able to carry 1200l for each drop, and with a fixed wing water bomber on standby, able to drop 3000l on a single fly-by.
When spot fires do occur, as is often the case, our Spotter plane is circling high overhead, able to direct the efforts of the chopper pilots below.
Since December, the TMNP has called our choppers in for 3 incidents. Each time, the air support was able to drop water in less than an hour of each fire being identified. In all 3 instances, the fire was quickly extinguished before it had time to spread out of control.
Just another way how the City of Cape Town continues to protect our residents.