Cape Town - A fire which started in Simon’s Town on Wednesday night and later burnt out of control destroying a number of houses could have been contained within an hour if three Working on Fire helicopters had been available to pilots at the SANParks Newlands fire base.
Table Mountain National Park fire manager, Philip Prins, said that while they were able to use two fixed-wing aircraft to bomb the fire, these were not as effective as the Hueys which have been grounded by the South African Civil Aviation Authority .
Complaints over maintenance following two fatal crashes earlier this year led to the grounding.
But Working on Fire’s general manager, Shane Christians, said the air operating certificates were expected to be ready by December 1.
He said eight of the organisation’s fixed-wing aircraft had been released by the civil aviation authority. In the meantime, Working on Fire had agreed contracts with private helicopters to assist.
However, only one of these had been available for the Simon’s Town fire.
Christians said the grounding had been more an “administrative” issue than a safety one.
Prins believes that the Simon’s Town fire, which started on property owned by the defence force, had been set deliberately.
He said a SANParks preliminary investigation appeared to show that it was arson.
Prins said ground crews and chopper pilots had worked together on an initial response.
The critical moment when fighting a fire is regarded to be the first hour.
On Monday, SANParks, Working on Fire’s Department of Environmental Affairs expanded public works programme, the city council’s fire and rescue services, Cape Nature, provincial disaster risk managers and the Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association revealed their individual and collective readiness for the upcoming fire season.
They are expecting an increase in wild fires because of recent dry weather and low rainfall.
People have been asked only to braai in designated areas, not make any illegal fires and discard cigarette butts safely.
To report fires within the Table Mountain National Park, people should call 086 1106 417 or the city council’s fire and rescue services on 021 480 7700 (from a cellphone) and 107 (from a landline).
Cape Argus
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