The City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security Directorate honoured staff from the Fire & Rescue Service at the mid-year awards this week which were held at the Roeland Street Fire Station. Some of the 18 staff members awarded includes a fireman who delivered a baby and a platoon whose quick thinking saved a disabled resident from death.
‘Our Fire & Rescue staff do incredible work, often going beyond the call of duty to save lives and property. While human lives are their priority, they are not adverse to saving some of our furry four-legged residents. Each staff member is commended for their dedication, their bravery and commitment to a job which requires much of them physically and emotionally,’ said the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
Fire fighters received awards for personal achievements, work conduct, contribution to the City of Cape Town, leadership and initiative, and process improvement and innovation categories.
‘Our fire fighters do much more and the categories do not truly reflect all of the invaluable contributions they make. With the awards we hope to recognise that this is their passion and not just another job,’ said Alderman Smith.
The awards are held twice a year.
The Lakeside 3 platoon received an award for leadership and initiative after they not only saved a disabled man from a fire, but they returned to rebuild a cupboard and replace a damaged bedside table.
The incident happened on 28 February this year when the platoon was dispatched to a vegetation fire in Seawinds.
They attended to the burning grass, when one fire fighter noticed a flickering light from an informal dwelling, quickly followed by smoke billowing from the structure.
The crew reacted immediately by deploying a line of hose, forced entry by breaking down the door and located a disabled male lying asleep on the bed. At that point, the bedside table and bedding had ignited and the crew evacuated and treated the man, before they extinguished the fire with minimal damage caused.
‘If it wasn’t for the situational awareness and swift action by the crew the occupant would have succumbed the fire and the structure destroyed. They followed this up by having a new cupboard built to replace the damaged bedside table. This is just one of the many acts of bravery which are all in a day’s work for our men and women in uniform,’ said Alderman Smith.
Other awards went to fire fighter Jacques Swanepoel who helped to deliver a baby at the Goodwood Fire Station, Firefighter Vusumzi Mzimvubu for ensuring the service maintains a high level of efficiency, and Divisional Commander Jermaine Carelse for his work within the quality assurance section.
Source: City Of Cape Town