Cape Town - Crew members from the Working on Fire (WOF) Programme in the Eastern Cape have been fighting a fire in the Waterval for the past seven days.
They managed to contain the fire on Tuesday morning.
Provincial spokesperson for WOF, Nthabiseng Mokone said the fire broke out in two different areas around Waterval and only two teams from Lottering and Blue Lillies were dispatched to assist the Koukamma Municipality.
“Later on three additional teams were added to assist on this fire as it became huge due to the wind and the dryness in that area.
“We have 40 firefighters from six teams who used their specialised firefighting skills in fighting this fire day and night, despite difficult weather conditions. They managed to save a structure that was in the area from being burnt,” Mokone said.
On Monday, Mokone said two WOF teams along with two fire trucks, a WOF strike unit, 10 firefighters from Koukamma Local Municipality with their fire truck and three Skid Unit bakkies. Kromsriver, Bloukrans and the Tsitsikamma teams were on standby for the day.
She said the objective for crew members was to protect lives and property.
Mokone said since the start of the summer fire season (December 1) teams have been dispatched to 13 incidents.
“Eastern Cape has got two fire seasons, the winter fire season that starts in June to October, and the summer fire season that starts from December to April.
“As the summer fire season continues WOF urges everyone to remain vigilant and not to start any unwanted fires, and smokers to make sure they correctly put out their cigarettes before throwing them away.
“Parents must ensure their children do not play near burning stoves, burning candles, and heaters,” she added.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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