On Saturday 21 November the Volunteer Wildfire Services celebrated 10 years of fighting fires and saving lives with their 10 Year Anniversary Open Day 2009. Over 1,500 visitors attended making this event the largest and most well received open day in the history of the VWS.

Held at VWS Newlands, the highlight of the day was the Simulated Fire Fighting demonstration that included a Russian-built Kamov helicopter, 5 fire engines and over 50 fire fighters. The demonstrations, coordinated by experienced VWS crew leaders Dennis Pitman, Hilton Carstens and Mike Scott, culminated in the helicopter dropping 4,000 litres of water on the new recruit volunteers who took part in the demonstration as part of their induction into the VWS.

Visitors were treated to fire engine rides, abseiling, competitions, games and challenges, and excellent food and drinks. Other highlights of the day included the spider and snake shows, as well as displays by Cape Town Fire & Emergency Services, the TMNP Honorary Rangers, Emergency Medical Training, Nature Conservation and the MTN ScienCentre.

Philip Prins, Table Mountain National Park Fire & Technical Services Manager, thanked the volunteers for their dedicated contribution to the Park over the past 10 years.

The VWS depend entirely on funding from generous contributions by the public and corporates. On standby 365 days of the year, their fire fighters are hard at work training and preparing for all fire-related disasters. “It costs anything between R50,000 – R100,000 per hour to fight runaway fires,” according to VWS director of marketing and communications Adrian Marnewick. “We depend heavily on the public and their kind support they have shown us over the years.”

The VWS Open Day 2009 Committee would like to extend a very heartfelt thanks to all the VWS members who took part, and all the visitors that attended Open Day 2009.

To make a contribution to the VWS, visit the Donations & Sponsorship page here.