 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The City of Cape Town’s 43 newest Fire and Rescue Service graduates are now officially part of the team. Read more below:
The City’s Fire and Rescue Service this morning 19 August 2016 officially welcomed 43 new firefighters into the ranks.
The Class of 2016 recently completed their eight month training course after beating hundreds of others for a spot in class during the 2015 recruitment process.
The group of 43 had to pass a gruelling physical assessment, followed by interviews and then eight months of training in various modules including Firefighter 1, Hazardous Materials Awareness and First-Aid Level 3.
Top of the class in Group 1 was Duke Deysel and the most improved student award went to Nathan Williams. The best overall student in Group 2 was Shahied Gallant while Sakhele Siswana was the most improved student in this group.At their graduation ceremony in Epping, the learner firefighters were presented with their rank and badge, with the former pinned to the corners of their shirt collars and the badge above the left shirt pocket. They are now permanent members of staff and will be deployed to various fire stations across the metropole.
‘This is a moment that these firefighters can be immensely proud of, because they’ve walked a long and difficult road to get here. The Fire and Rescue Service is crucial to the safety and security of residents in any city. It is a tough job and not everyone is cut out for it, so the fact that this group has persevered is an even greater testament to their strength of character. I know that they will be a proud addition to the service,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
The new firefighters will face their first challenge when they are deployed to the front lines in the upcoming fire season which, traditionally, is the Fire and Rescue Service’s busiest time of year.
During the previous fire season (November 2015 to April 2016), the City’s Fire and Rescue Service responded to just under ten thousand incidents. More information is available here: http://tinyurl.com/zkxsyrd
‘The demands of the fire season are challenging for even our toughest firefighters, but they continue putting in the hard yards and saving lives and property in the process. This new crop of firefighters will be surrounded by many experienced officers who can show them the ropes and continue building the service’s reputation as one of the best in the country. We’ll also start recruiting our seasonal firefighters soon who will be crucial to our firefighting-efforts during the peak summer season,’ added Alderman Smith.
One Response to New firefighters make the grade