Fire Fighting Training: Cape Town Wildfires

Fire fighting training is something that every would-be fire fighter needs to undergo before taking on the role professionally, and in Cape Town, EMCARE's fire fighting training courses are incredibly popular. Cape Town is rather infamous for its wildfires, meaning firefighters are always in high demand.

If you're interested in firefighting and would like to learn more about how wildfires are handled in the Mother City, this article is for you. In this quick read, we'll be covering what makes wildfires in Cape Town such a common occurrence, how firefighters handle these frequent hazards, as well as how EMCARE's fire fighting course can help pave the way for you to learn the ins and outs of fire fighting yourself.

What's Up With Cape Town's Wildfires?
Cape Town is a city filled with gorgeous views. From Table Mountain to the vineyards, there are plenty of natural attractions that draw in tourists by the dozens. However, along with the expansive hiking trails and thriving vegetation comes a major risk of wildfires spreading across this particularly flammable terrain. Between October 2023 and January 2024 alone, City fire crews logged 13,087 call-outs, 55% of them vegetation fires, while 2024 ended with over 12,000 separate wildland ignitions. The ambiguous culprit is Cape Town's famous Fynbos.

The iconic shrubland that Cape Town is known for is packed with volatile oils, fine twigs and deep litter. Ecologists describe it as vegetation that positively encourages fire, something that has evolved to germinate only after a good scorching. It's because of the particularly flammable fynbos that Cape Town's fire brigades are rarely left twiddling their thumbs. The limitless fuel of fynbos, coupled with the long, hot, south-easterly-blown summers that make Cape Town so popular, makes a perfect recipe for frequent wildfires.

As of late, higher average temperatures, more frequent heatwaves, and extensive droughts are another major factor in the frequent risk of fires in Cape Town, drying fuel loads earlier and keeping them flammable longer. Researchers over at Stellenbosch University have even speculated that hotter, drier summers are lengthening fire-weather windows by up to two weeks per decade.

With that being said, however, 97% of ignitions are still man-made. From illegal burn-offs to discarded cigarette butts, most of the wildfires that get out of hand along Table Mountain are caused by careless tourists and locals alike, with people not considering the impact of their actions. It's for this very reason that public education (and the Fire Awareness modules in EMCARE's entry-level courses) are highly valuable in the City of Cape Town.

Fire Fighting Training To Handle The Heat
So, who exactly fights the flames when wildfire occurs in Cape Town? Well, with all the above-mentioned fire hazards to worry about, the City prepares to handle these disasters effectively with 32 career fire stations and more than 900 professional firefighters available on a shift rotation. Each of them has undergone extensive training and, thanks to effective risk mapping, unit sectoring, live weather feeds, and joint radio channels with Table Mountain National Park and CapeNature, they are able to respond to these emergencies and handle the situation before it gets out of hand.

For even quicker response and a backup plan if more help is needed, the city also hosts the Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS). This group consists of more than 350 volunteers who have all undergone fire fighting training, operating out of four bases (Newlands, South Peninsula, Stellenbosch, and Helderberg). They are often responsible for carrying heavy tools into terrain that fire engines can't reach, and they are also often a part of public-education drives.

The volunteer system works well in times of crisis, freeing up career crews to protect structures while volunteers with the appropriate training hold wildland flanks. EMCARE's basic courses satisfy VWS entry requirements, so any prospective firefighters hoping to try their hand at volunteering can benefit from our fire fighting courses.

EMCARE Fire Fighting Training

Tending to wildfires with all the level-headed expertise needed to get the job done well is no easy feat, and firefighters will need to undergo extensive training before setting foot in the field. Cape Town firefighters, specifically, due to the unique risk of fynbos wildfires, will need competence and confidence when dealing with these hazards. South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) unit standards, NFPA guidelines, and HazMat awareness all feed into EMCARE's fire fighting courses, ensuring recruits are equipped with all the knowledge and expertise they need to succeed.

EMCARE's Western Cape branch is situated at 23 Brug Street, Busaf Park, Triangle Farm, Bellville, but we have EMCARE branches set up all over South Africa. If you're interested in fire fighting training, there's no need to cross provinces to get it; we offer fire fighting courses in facilities spanning the entire country. At our Cape Town facility, we offer five climate-controlled classrooms that can host up to twenty learners at a time, along with live-fire props, hose-reel towers, and confining-space simulators so you can practise SCBA crawls or fynbos flare-up drills without leaving the city.

Most learners start with the Basic Fire Awareness (BFA) fire fighting training. This is a half-day training course, covering fire chemistry, extinguisher classes, and safe evacuation. Next up is the one-day Basic Fire Fighting training course, which layers on PPE, hose-reel work, and tactical extinguisher use. The syllabus also includes lifting-and-carrying techniques relevant to informal-settlement rescues. Course content aligns with SAQA-12484, and the completion certificate is valid for two years. From there, the Advanced Fire Fighting Training module stretches to two days and includes full-pressure hydrant and foam work.

For extensive training to cover all your bases, our Fire Fighter I and Fire Fighter 2 programmes are internationally accredited by SAESI and modelled on NFPA 1001/1072. This is the training course to upgrade you from rookie volunteer to a front-line asset capable of technical rescues and first-in HazMat scene defence.

To end things off, we'll leave you with this: Cape Town will keep burning, fynbos biology insists on it, but with affordable fire fighting training offered by EMCARE, you can ensure that the city is equipped with trained fire fighters able to handle any catastrophe. Get in contact or book your first fire fighting training session today and let us help you achieve your fire fighting goals.