Cape fire heroes keep cool in the heat of battle

An explosion and a plume of flames met a brave firefighter while on the scene of the raging Cape fires this past week. But Frank Forbay does not want to be seen as a hero.

"As firefighters, we do what we must do. It's our passion," he said from Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital, where he was treated this week before being discharged on Friday.

A firefighter since 1993, Forbay was on site with a colleague at Tintswalo Atlantic Lodge, which burnt down on Monday. As he fought the fire, water pressure dropped and the flames grew.

He struggled to change the hose reel, and as he took his gloves off, disaster struck.

"As I turned around, there was a gas explosion inside the building. It went right through me - I was standing in the midst of a gas flame. It melted the skin off my hands. It felt like my whole body was burning," he said.

His visor saved his face. "I thought my face was gone. There was a Jacuzzi 5m away - I jumped in to cool my body."

The experience taught him gratitude. "I've learnt how we need to be there for each other. I appreciate the amount of compassion people have given me."

His wife of 21 years, Natasha, said her faith in God helped her through their trying time.

Keeping his cool

Phillip Prins is remarkably calm for a man in charge of an inferno. He answers a cellphone call with one hand, and holds a walkie-talkie in the other.

Panicked voices on the other side of the phone grow quiet as he dishes out advice.

Prins is fire manager for Table Mountain National Park, stationed at Newlands forest. He is one of only two permanent staff running an emergency department that must co-ordinate all firefighting activity.

He manages a complex cast, ranging from grizzled helicopter pilots who have seen more fire- than bathwater, to fresh-faced civilian volunteers who arrive with a spade over their shoulder.

He must also liaise with municipal and provincial government officials. He works any time of the day or night, any day of the week. "My job doesn't have any hours," Prins says . "I can't just go out for a drink."

Prins hovers between a despatch centre buzzing with chatter and a planning room lined with computers. "On the computers we have all the different maps, such as land-use maps and vegetation maps," he says. Volunteer firefighters update a central database with GPS co-ordinates. "I can stand there and see how the fire develops."

If the fire moves towards an area of old vegetation, Prins warns his team to prepare for a flare-up; if it moves towards private property, he must consider calling for reinforcements.

"We don't wait for the fire to approach, we go and get it," he says proudly. "We will go out and fight it before it comes down."

With that, he glances up at a passing helicopter, nods goodbye, and strides off into battle.

The restaurant resistance keeps food coming

Like many Cape Town residents, Frans van Sittert woke up to the smell of smoke on Wednesday morning.

"I knew all hell had broken loose," said the Tokai resident, whose house is within sight of one of the pine forests that were the epicentre of the blaze.

Rather than roll over and go back to sleep - he was tired from helping firefighters late into the night - Van Sittert got up and joined his wife, Jess, at their restaurant in a neighbourhood shopping centre.

It was already packed, filled with dazed residents swapping tales about the inferno sweeping down the mountain side.

"People who had been evacuated were all sitting outside the Tribakery. Jess just said to the managers to please give them some coffee and food. I started helping out."

The couple began packing bags with food and rushing them up to the fire line. They also picked up donated supplies. Friends joined in and, with reflector jackets and a portable flashing light on top of their 4x4, the restaurant resistance was born, ferrying sustenance to those in need.

"We were just going back and forth, loading up donations and going back with burn gel and water and chocolates," Van Sittert said.

While reloading at the restaurant, Van Sittert saw a partially-clothed elderly woman and her partner who had just been evacuated from their home. He offered to fetch some clothes, but when he got to their home he found it burnt to the ground.

"We've got some people's dogs in the office as well," Van Sittert said. "They came down and didn't know where to put their animals. We're looking after them."

When the going gets tough, the moms get going

More than 500 sandwiches and rolls were made by Liz Modlin, and Barbie Mark said that on Thursday night alone, 160 curries and 105 pizzas were taken to the Lakeside fire station.

This was a small part of the week-long efforts of a group of Westlake moms who used their own time and resources to feed and help firefighters and pilots during thisweek's Cape Town fires.

With the help of sponsors and other members of their Silvertree Estate community, the women supplied hundreds of home-cooked meals and thousands of litres of water and energy drinks to the men and women fighting to contain the fires.

On Friday, Melanie Murugen had prepared rotis and curry and was waiting for the call to say where they would be needed.

Apart from home-cooked meals and drinks, the women supplied biscuits, sweets and ice lollies to rescue services workers, while helicopter pilots were treated to massages.

Co-ordinating via a Facebook page and a WhatsApp group, the Silvertree moms would work 12-hour shifts preparing and serving meals.

And when complaints came about indigestion, and requests were made for food to suit religious beliefs, the women altered the menu and kept the food coming.

"They said please no more sandwiches because they were battling with heartburn, so we started making hot meals," said Mark.

"Then they asked for halaal because some of the firefighters couldn't eat [the food]. Every time the specifications changed and each time we had to get it as close as we could."

There was even time for a braai amid the blaze, and Karin Wood prepared chicken burgers for grateful firefighters who had not eaten meat in days.

The women also helped with pharmaceutical items and nearly 1000 bottles of eyedrops were given to emergency workers.

Mark said that such was their reaction that it was like giving them bags of gold.

The women, who are a mixture of stay-at-home moms, businesswomen and professionals, said the experience had made them want to continue working to help others, and they wanted to create a calendar to honour the firefighters.

"We forget about these people who risk their lives," said Vanessa Delgado.

"I want to go once a week to the station to give them a cooked meal, whether they are working or not."