CCS Western Cape Light the Way
The CCS Fire Team began training on 3 May 2007 at CCS Epping under the watchful eye of Gideon Smit who represents Fire Safety Solutions. A professional fire fighter, Gideon put the team through the paces to become proficient fire fighters. With the help of the maintenance team at Duncan Dock, Jaco assisted with the design and manufacture of fire obstacles and burners. In a very short period of time, the team bonded as they worked towards a common goal, the will to win.
On 22 June the team took part in Risk Management Service’s regional fire fighting competition at Epping Fire Station, hosted by Alexander Forbes. Twelve teams of five firemen each participated and, against all odds, CCS secured a very good 4th place and was invited to compete in the national competition later in the year – the first team to represent the Oceana Group.
Focus was on training and on getting the team fired-up for the final event. On 8 November the team flew to O R Tambo International Airport (for some this was their first time on an aircraft) and stayed in a hotel on the East Rand. The next morning they drove to the MAT Fire Academy in Meyerton, a medium-sized industrial town south of Johannesburg and venue for the national competition.
Fifteen teams from all over South Africa were entered in this year’s event which had been running for seven years. Some teams were participating for the seventh time. CCS was the dark horse and the new guys on the block!
The competition took the form of two ‘timed’ tasks. Firstly, two team members elected by the events judge, together with their team leader, were to extinguish a burning fire (Devil’s Cross) with only two CO2 extinguishers at their disposal. The second and main task, to be performed by the full team of five, was to extinguish a gusting fire on the second floor of a steel structure by making use of a fire hydrant point, hoses, branch and fire nozzles. After a briefing session led by Price Forbes, the teams were drawn for starting position.
Competition in the first event was fierce with only five teams extinguishing their fires. Amongst these was the CCS team of Randall, Rameez and Jaco as their guide, with a score of 114 points and a surprising 2nd place.
Then came the mother of all fires, a blazing fire fuelled by 220 litres of paraffin! Teams had to sum-up and strategise their plans to contain and then extinguish the roaring flames. In the end only a few teams could contain the fire correctly. The winners were Meadow Feeds Delmas with 301 points and the only team to extinguish the fire. CCS followed a good strategy and managed to contain their fire soon after their starting orders, securing an excellent 3rd place overall with 279 points, just 3 points behind 2nd place runners-up Nola Randfontein.
Acknowledgements to: Hans Rademeyer with thanks for his contribution.
