On 8th September, the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service unveiled 19 new vehicles at the Epping Fire Station.
These vehicles will add value to the current capacity of Fire and Rescue Service fleet and will allow the fire services to respond to the increasing requests for assistance with fires and other related emergencies.
The Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, attended the event.
The investment in the newly acquired fire vehicles by the City’s Safety and Security Directorate amounts to more than R81 million. The acquisition process which started several years ago will allow Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service to expand its capability ahead of the summer months to deal with veld, industrial and residential fires.
“Our firemen and women work in extremely dangerous environments when called upon to extinguish fires. They need the best equipment to assist those in need, to protect lives, property and infrastructure. These vehicles will allow them to access mountainous terrain and will increase the response time. The City’s Fire Service often assists neighbouring municipalities when requested. The investment in these vehicles is an investment in the safety of our residents and the natural and built environment,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
According to Station Commander F Munnik (Training Academy) and Platoon Commander W Moolman (Fleet), all of the vehicles have extensive off road capabilities with an advanced drive train to allow for accessing difficult terrain. In addition to the water storage capacity, some of the vehicles also have foam tanks on board for extinguishing certain fires in environments where using foam is required instead of the conventional medium of water.
The latest technology allows the operator to control the foam and water cannons from within the vehicle even while in transit, or from a remote console.
Among the new fleet, two are fully equipped heavy technical rescue vehicles that are fitted with a wide range of rescue devices and equipment that further enhance the capabilities of rescue teams, and compare favourably to similar vehicles in the United States and Europe. They will be deployed from Bellville and Roeland Street respectively and have been custom designed and built, on a 6×6 chassis, incorporating a vehicle mounted crane, several new items of equipment not available previously such as technical search devices.
The new vehicles are fully off-road capable to address the geographical challenges within the City.
The water tankers have improved off-road capabilities with larger capacities for carrying water and foam concentrate on remote controlled turrets.
