It's been a hard day for our Fire & Rescue service, ahead of extreme temperatures expected for tomorrow.
Earlier today, a truck carrying fruit had its brakes fail while coming down Sir Lowries Pass near Gordon's Bay, and it plunged into the rear of another truck transporting pigs before itself bursting into flames.
With the job not yet done for the firefighters, they turned their water onto the holding area of the pigs, keeping them cool and hydrated until they were safely transported on.
In the afternoon, a vegetation fire broke out close to Atlantis, with the inferno sweeping across the dry vegetation. Immediately 5 of our fire engines were sent to respond and both our firefighting choppers at Newlands base were activated. With our fire-spotter plane coordinating the attack from above, each chopper took turns in dropping 1200l buckets of water on the flames below.
Back in the City, before the sun had set, Law Enforcement officers detected a scent of burning cable but were surprised to see smoke billowing out of a storm water drain on Beach Rd, in Seapoint. Firefighters arrived, unable to locate the exact source, the tanks were opened and the drainage system flooded until all smoke had ceased.
In just the last hour, 11 incidents have been reported, including a residential fire, an informal dwelling, a motorvehicle accident, and 4 of them being vegetation fires. Our advanced EPIC computer-aided system allows us to instantly see where incidents are occurring and where our existing resources are currently being used, as well as well as identifying the exact locations where resources may be needed should an emergency arise. To ensure our municipality is well protected, additional firefighters have been called up for duty and spare fire engines in the fleet are being readied to be brought onto call, further enhancing our emergency response.
We are ready! But with the South African Weather Service having issued warnings for extreme hot weather for Wednesday, our FRS will remain on high alert, ready to respond urgently.
Please be extremely cautious and don't allow any open flame in any of our mountain area, bush or vegetation areas. If you see any sign of fire, please call our Public Emergency Communication Centre on 021 480 7700 immediately!
