The programme’s Parapara Makgahlela said training was conducted in Kadesh, west of Pretoria, but the programme’s staff are often called to fight blazes, especially on the open plots of Kyalami and in Midrand.
Makgahlela said 16 of Gauteng Province’s Working on Fire teams were assessed during the training camp.
Firefighters Esrom Lebogo of the Rust De Winter team in Hammanskraal was one of the firefighters who participated in the training assessment. “The purpose of the yellow card training assessment is to qualify us to go to the fire line. If you fail it means you can’t attend fire calls during the fire season. Since the beginning of the year, I have been training hard and consistently prior the yellow card assessment. I have just passed my fitness tests,” he said proudly.
He finished a 2.4km run in a time of 00:11:21, and explained that he was looking forward to the extra money paid for overtime during the fire season.
“My crew members also passed the assessments. I am very glad. Though the assessment was intense we motivated each other as crew members to pass,” Lebogo said.
He said he has a passion to fight veld and forest fires because, as a team, they are conserving their environment.
Jimmy Phaahlane, a crew leader for the Rust De Winter team said that the yellow card assessment training was interesting because it is the survival of the fittest.
“If you are not fit you can’t survive,” he said.
Phaahlane explained that the training will help them work long hours and to avoid heat stroke on the fire lines.
The Working on Fire programme’s general manager for Gauteng, Stephen Boyes said that yellow card assessment training ensures fitness and readiness of firefighters for the fire season.
“Assessing the firefighters is part of observing and implementing occupational health and safety rules. The safety of our firefighters is our number one concern,” he said.
Boyes explained that despite rainy conditions. the province has successfully managed to pull off the yellow card training assessment.
“All firefighters are certified and ready for the 2015 fire season,” he concluded.
Do you have any plans in place to protect your homes from the threat of fires this winter? Let us know in the comments below.
