#StrongerTogether: City of Cape Town joins Hangklip firefight
Firefighters in the Overstrand are getting help from their brothers and sisters in Cape Town.
A City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services fire engine. Picture: @CityofCT/X
Lester Kiewit speaks to Overstrand Municipal Manager Dean O’Neill and Colin Deiner (Chief Director of Disaster Management in the Western Cape) about the inter-municipal cooperation while battling the Hangklip fires.
RELATED: Hangklip residents urged to be 'vigilant' as fires rage on
The coastal town of Hangklip in the Western Cape has been engulfed in smoke since Tuesday (30 January 2024).
O'Neil says that firefighters have been working 12-hour shifts.
He says firefighters are getting 'tremendous support' from the City of Cape Town's fire and rescue team and surrounding municipalities.
"It's a team effort between municipalities. We help each other out where the help is most needed."
- Dean O'Neil, Municipal Manager - Overstrand
While Colin Deiner, Chief director of Disaster Management in the Western Cape notes that Cape Town has seen a "busy fire season" which required a lot of inter-municipal support.
Diener explains that when multiple fires happen all at once or often, there is a "mutual aid agreement" which municipalities can evoke.
This means that municipal services can assist and collaborate with each other if they need additional resources.
"We invoke it quite regularly. It helps us tremendously. We respond, we assist and it's an excellent example of collaboration."
- Colin Deiner, Chief director - Disaster Management, Western Cape
Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.