Firstcare Wildfire Support

Today we had the privilege to visit the awesome kids at Wiggles & Giggles Creche. We had awesome fun telling the kids about fire safety and then of course spraying some water. Note: No municipal water was used.

Sometimes nobody says thank you… because nobody knows they were there.

Not every fire department call makes the news.

Sometimes it's an automatic alarm at 2 a.m. Wires down in the rain. A tree across the road. A gas odor. Traffic control at a crash. Or one of the countless other calls most people never know happened.

But somebody still had to get out of bed.
Somebody still answered the tones, went to the station and responded, never knowing whether they were heading to something minor or someone's worst day.

And when it was over, they simply went home.

Maybe back to bed for a couple hours before work. Maybe back to a cold dinner or plans they had to leave behind.

There was no crowd waiting. No recognition. Most people never even knew they were there.

We notice our volunteer firefighters when something terrible happens. But they're serving their communities on all the ordinary calls, too.

So here's a thank you for those calls...the middle-of-the-night alarms, storm calls, traffic details, standbys and the calls that thankfully turned out to be nothing.

To every volunteer who quietly returned to the station, put the equipment away and went home:
We may not have known you were there. But we're grateful that you were. ❤️

A huge thank you go out to the Southern Cape Fire Protection Association for their generous donation of an awesome blower. Your continued support to FWS is greatly appreciated. This greatly improves our ability to deal with grass and veldfires, especially in areas where we do not have quick access to a water supply. We will set up a training session soon for our volunteers in the correct use and maintenance of the blower. This blower will form part of our George base assets. Once all volunteers are trained and competent on the operation of the blower we will then attempt to source another blower for our Wilderness Heights Satellite Base as well.

Some of our volunteers attended an accredited chainsaw course today. Just another way of ensuring that we render topnotch service to our clients and communities. After the theory session they did the practical part on our farm where 1 of the access roads to the back part of the farm still had to be cleared after the recent storm. All attendees did a superb job and have all been deemed competent to efficiently and safely operate a chainsaw. Huge thank you to Garden Route Training for sponsoring this course.

Early this morning we were contacted by a client with regards to a house alight on his property. Together with Sedgefield and George Fire Departments the fire was extinguished. Unfortunately the historic house (built in the 1800's) filled with antique furniture from the same era was entirely gutted.

Some problem pine trees along Whites Rd, Wilderness Heights were removed this afternoon. We assisted with motorist safety during this operation and at times we had to implement a Stop/Go system. Operation was completed safely with no incidents. We extend our thanks to the motorists for their patience, understanding and cooperation.

We will never forget...

Extremely proud to have received this today on behalf of our awesome team

On this morning 9 years ago you answered your final call. Bradley Richards we miss you. But your ultimate sacrifice was not in vain and your legacy lives on. The lessons learnt from this tragic incident form an integral part of our training. Even though you are not here you are still saving lives and we know that you watch over us on every call, keeping us safe. You were taken way too soon but we will never forget you. Fly high brother, untill we meet again.

7 June 2017 - a date the Garden Route will never forget. One of the largest wildfires in recent history that raged unstoppable through Knysna and Plett. Taking everything in its path. Today, 9 years later, we remember those that tragically lost their lives, we say thank you to all that battled this raging beast, we say thank you to all that helped to rebuild. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten. And lastly to my friend, my colleague, my brother: Bradley Richards, you will never be forgotten. We thank you for your service. I know you are looking over us every day and keeping us safe on every call and at every burn. Fly high brother