Working on fire firefighters continue to battle fires around the Cape
The contingent of over 1 000 Working on Fire (WoF) firefighters, deployed in the Cape since the beginning of the year, has contained the wild fires around the Simonstown / Ocean View area, which started on the 11th of January.
During the operation WoF had two Huey Helicopters, a spotter plane and about 50 firefighters from the Mamre and Newlands Teams assisting Table Mountain National Park.
According to Philip Prins, Integrated Fire Management for Table Mountain National Park, “the fire in Simonstown has now been contained. A small crew from Cape Point and Working on Fire will be brought in to monitor the area and conduct mop up operations to secure the areas burnt.”
The status of the current fires and Working on Fire deployments are as follows:
Witzenberg
This fire that started on 10th January 2017, has had close to 40 firefighters from WoF assisting CapeNature and Cape Town Disaster Management in an ongoing effort to contain the fire.
Somerset West
This fire has been largely contained and according to the Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association, the fire in the Sneeuberg Mountain is under control and ground teams will begin with mop-up operations in the area.
Since the start of the fire season (1 December 2016) ground and aerial support have been instrumental in the suppression of 57 fires and limited the areas burnt by 95 959.3 hectares throughout the Western Cape. Firefighting aircraft have racked up 432.3 flying hours.
For January 2017 alone, ground and aerial support were instrumental in the suppression of 39 fires and limited the areas burnt by an impressive 26 492 hectares throughout the Western Cape.
Firefighting aircraft racked up 285.2 flying hours.
Working on Fire (WoF) is a programme of the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Environmental Programmes and is implemented through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
Unemployed young men and women are trained in various fire management and suppression skills including but not limited to as firefighters, drivers, brush cutters, dispatchers, helicopter safety leaders and environmental educators.
For media enquiries contact:
Zolile Nqayi
Cell: 082 898 6483
E-mail: znqayi@environment.gov.za
