Families showed their respect and admiration for the brave men and women on the front line at the Lakeside Fire Station on International Firefighters’ Day which was celebrated on Wednesday 4 May.
Katherine and Antony McDonald, with their son and daughter, were excited to meet the firefighters.
“We made a special trip to come and see the firemen, they are brave and heroic. They were very excited; we cannot do without our emergency services,” said Katherine.
“We are so grateful for Cape Town’s spirit of generosity, welcome and hospitality. We are very glad that we came here.”
Sammy (6) was happy to go for a ride in the fire truck. “It (the siren) is very loud.” He added: “I want to be a fireman.”
The family, who are visiting from Australia, said they have great respect for firefighters.
“Where we are from in Australia, it’s important to have firefighters who are equipped to deal with the hectic weather that we have in both our countries, so enormous respect for firefighters and the fact that they keep us all safe,” said Antony.
Children lined up to experience a ride in a fire truck while others were happy to learn about the fire hose used during rescue operations.
Enzo McLaren (3) loves firemen and fire trucks. He also wants to be a fireman when he grows up.
“Firefighters put out fires,” he said confidently.
His mother Alice McLaren said whenever he sees a fire truck, he gets excited with the sirens.
“He loves it whenever he sees a fire truck and I think it’s mainly my fault because I am a paramedic. I work on an ambulance, so he is used to the flashy lights and the excitement and sirens. So, whenever he sees a fire truck, even on TV he gets excited and I think he has around 10 fire truck toys at home.”
Jared Sam, a fireman from Lakeside Fire Station, said he simply loves helping the community.
“We go through training, usually six to 12 months to equip us with everything that we need. I love my job, everything about it from helping the communities, seeing children when they wave to us and then saying they want to be a firefighter. I remember how I reacted as a child when I saw a fire truck and when I see that in children, it reminds me what I am doing here.”
The young father said it gives him great satisfaction to help others.
“We go out on calls and people say thank you for saving their property. We try to save as much as we can and for me at the end of the day, the satisfaction seen on other people’s faces means much more to me. And I have a baby, I always put my gear on for him, so for me that is everything.”
Lucille Constant Lawrence, a watch room attendant, staffs the control room where emergency calls come through.
“They call this the watch room, but it is also a control room compared to the main one at Goodwood Fire Station. So, normally they are the communicators, they manage incoming calls and then they dispatch.
“Phone calls come through here as well and then I dispatch. If it’s a fire call or a special service call or sometimes also back up, it depends. I love this job, the one thing you must have is the passion for service to your community.”
She added that everyone at the station were like one big family.
“This is like family to me and I really enjoy it. At the end of the day, it is all about love, serving the community with honesty and being compassionate.”
