By Mogamat Amén Strydom
With Cape Town battered by relentless winds, soaring temperatures, and dangerously dry conditions, the city has entered one of its most volatile fire seasons in recent years.
Speaking to VOC News, Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City’s Fire and Rescue Services, warned that the combination of weather patterns and human behaviour is fuelling a surge in runaway vegetation fires across the metro.
Carelse stressed that a Southeastern wind has been blowing for the last four weeks, he believes already consistent, and due to increased temperatures and the dry conditions, all played a catalyst for runaway vegetation fires.
“We had over a thousand, more than a thousand in a week and a half’s period,” he said.
He pointed out that most fires are recorded between 3 pm and 6 pm, a window that notably coincides with the end of the school day and increased public movement in many areas.
While Carelse did not directly attribute the fires to schoolchildren, the timing suggests that a range of afternoon activities and behaviours, including those involving young people, may inadvertently contribute to ignition risks during this critical period.
“And also, there are a lot of motorists on the road. And I think we should be more vigorously looking at the stumpy outline again. We see that motorists come just over the window and just stick out their cigarette, and that normally causes just wildfires,” explained Carelse.
He emphasised the importance of early reporting, reminding residents that firefighters have less than a minute to prepare once a call comes in.
“If you see smoke, rather report it; we would rather take 20, 30 calls of someone reporting a fire where no one reports a fire. And then eventually, when someone reports the fire after maybe 10, 15 minutes, it turns into a raging inferno, and we need then we need more resources on scene where we could have just seen the normal vehicles,” emphasized the Spokesperson.
Photo: Pixabay
