The Western Cape’s network of fire-alarm cameras has been improved to alert water-bombers even faster to shack and wildfires in the province, disaster workers said on Wednesday.
The move demonstrates Cape Town’s commitment not only to a safer environment, but also to effective disaster-relief measures in the summer fire season, said the mayoral committee member for safety and security, Dumizani Ximbi.
More than 100 people died and 28 000 were left destitute when 8 000 homes were destroyed in 2 000 fires in informal settlements in the city in 2005, he said.
In the Cape metro and Stellenbosch municipal areas alone, more than 14 000 people were rendered homeless and destitute in fires between December 2004 and January 2005.
According to an Operation Firewatch report released this week, the number of fires in informal settlements in the area is on the rise.
Two additional cameras will now be positioned at the top of Sir Lowry’s Pass and on Constantia Peak, Cape Town’s disaster-risk management centre and Working on Fire said in a joint statement on Wednesday. There are already cameras on the Athlone Towers, Tygerberg Hills and Papegaaiberg.
Harbour authorities have also agreed to extend the capability of a camera above the port captain’s office to watch over the Table Bay coastline, including the Du Noon region.
This means fire dispatchers will be able to scramble aerial and ground fire crews to shack fires across the Cape Flats to Stellenbosch, the section of the False Bay coast visible from Constantia Peak, the Noordhoek gap, and a section of the West Coast most prone to shack fires.
In a pilot project, the water-bombers have shown they can drop foam to contain, cool and cut off fires, and enable structural firefighters to move in with traditional ground firefighting resources.
Working on Fire manager Johan Heine said building material is highly flammable in densely settled communities, getting to the fire with water is often difficult and the radiant heat is extreme.
”The quicker we can get effective firefighting resources to the fire, the better the chance of keeping it contained,” he said. — Sapa