'There is no typical day for our firefighters who respond to many different calls for their services including grass and structural fires, medical emergencies, technical rescues and hazardous material spills. They are often the first responders at the scene and assist neighbouring municipalities when called on such as the vegetation fire that was experienced in Betty's Bay earlier this year in January,' said the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

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Between 1 November 2018 and 28 February 2019, the City's Fire and Rescue Service responded to 13 483 incidents. These included:

• 7 472 bush and grass fires
• 662 formal residential fires
• 716 informal residential fires

The rest of the incidents over this period include medical emergencies and other fire-related incidents.

In addition, City firefighters assisted the Overstrand Municipality for nearly two weeks with extinguishing the vegetation fire which started in Betty’s Bay and eventually burnt its way into Cape Town’s municipal boundaries.

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'Firefighters are often the unsung heroes as they battle a blaze while often at the same time coming up against elements within communities who do not appreciate the work that they do. They run towards the danger to save lives, property and limit damage. I would like to commend each one for their commitment and I would like to thank the International WeloveU Foundation for this initiative,' said Alderman Smith.

The International WeLoveU Foundation, which was started in Korea in the 1990s, conducts global charitable activities and is planning a number of activities in Africa starting with events to show appreciation to teachers, firefighters, nurses, medical doctors, and police officers.

For more information about the foundation, please go to https://intlweloveu.org.

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