The statistics between October and January point to one of the busiest periods for the City’s Fire and Rescue Service in the last four years, with 13 087 incidents responded to – 55% of these were vegetation fires.
A review of statistics for the Fire and Rescue Service over the past four years between October and January shows the following in key categories:
| Oct 2020 – Jan 2021 | Oct 2021 – Jan 2022 | Oct 2022 – Jan 2023 | Oct 2023 – Jan 2024 | |
| Overall incidents | 9 696 | 10 581 | 11 691 | 13 087 |
| Vegetation fires | 5 372 | 5 331 | 6 029 | 7 190 |
| Informal residential fires | 623 | 841 | 882 | 851 |
| Formal residential fires | 542 | 685 | 719 | 699 |
Year-on-year there was a 12% increase in overall incidents, including fires, rescues and other special service calls like motor vehicle accidents and trauma cases.
Vegetation fires increased by 19%, compared to the same period the previous year, and the statistics show an upward trend over the past three years.
‘The past few months have been a true test of our Fire and Rescue Service’s capabilities, as well as the various support departments. However, it has also been a testament to the planning and resourcing within the service, as well as the relationships that exist not only with other agencies like the Table Mountain National Parks, their service provider NCC and the Volunteer Wildfire Services, but also our memorandum of agreement with neighbouring municipalities who stepped in when we needed them. This week, the roles were reversed, and we were able to send City resources to assist with the wildfires in other municipalities.
‘And, while investigations continue to determine whether some of the fires we’ve experienced were set deliberately, the response to date speaks volumes about the City’s ability to handle adversity. We are not out of the woods yet, but I want to commend everyone involved in what has been one of the busiest periods from a firefighting perspective,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
In terms of residential fires over the period, there has been a slight downturn in both informal and formal residential fires, compared to the previous year; but the statistics show a marked increase compared to October 2020 – January 2021.
‘Structural fires remain a big concern. The increases over the past three years came at a time of increased frequency and stages of load-shedding, but we also face ongoing challenges like illegal electricity connections, human error or negligence, and an increase in incidents where bystanders interfere with firefighters. Numerous City departments are involved in ongoing fire safety education and awareness initiatives, with hundreds of interventions each year. We urge residents to do as much as they can to mitigate the risk of fire in their homes or communities,’ added Alderman Smith.
Cape Town has 32 fire stations – Sir Lowry’s Pass and Kommetjie Road were the latest to open their doors in 2021 and 2020 respectively.
Work is expected to start soon on a 33rd fire station in Langa.
On a daily basis, fire stations have at least 240 firefighters on operational duty, excluding the Incident Management Teams on standby in the event of major incidents.
The Fire & Rescue Service has an operational fleet of more than 200 vehicles, including 73 fire appliances, 27 water tenders, four heavy technical rescue units, 10 aerial appliances and seven water craft.
