The Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning is throwing their weight behind firefighters ahead of the fire season.
MEC Anton Bredell says his department is committing R16 million towards the Provincial Disaster Risk Management Centre which will have the funds available for the various firefighting bodies in the province.
Mr Bredell did a site inspection at the Newlands Fire Base Station on Tuesday October 11 to see that the firefighters from Working on Fire, the City’s Fire and Rescue services team, Volunteer Fire Service and NCC Environmental Services are ready for summer when fires are more frequent.
“This well help in funding 24 firefighting helicopters as well as additional firefighting resources,” he says.
Department spokesperson, Wouter Kriel, says last year a spotter plane could fly at R2 000 per hour, whereas the large Black Hawk helicopter operated at around R80 000 per hour. “When a fire breaks out, the money will be used to co-fund resources needed by the different firefighting stakeholders.”
Mr Bredell says the province experienced 15 000 fires per year and most people don’t hear about it because of the excellent work done by firefighters in extinguishing the fires.
Mr Bredell says the Provincial Disaster Risk Management Centre plays a crucial coordination role in this regard. “There are 30 firefighting bases, as well as several volunteer firefighting outfits in the Province. These organisations are staffed by more than 3 000 firefighters who need to be coordinated, often at very short notice and under difficult and dangerous conditions,” he says.
Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) manager Philip Prins says this is a good initiative as firefighting is done in collaboration with different firefighting organisations. “We are expecting a firefighting helicopter to arrive at the Newlands base in November, and the City’s helicopter will also arrive at the base at the end of November, in addition another three helicopters will be on standby at the beginning of December.”
Mr Prins says that TMNP will also have another 45 firefighters who will be on duty from December until the end of March next year.
Mr Bredell took a walk around the Newlands Fire Base to have a closer look at the fire engines and service vehicles.
