Fire Management Partner Organisations
TMNP manages 25 000 hectares of the 30 000 hectares that make up the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment (CPPNE). The remaining 5 000 hectares is a mix of private, City and State-owned land.
City of Cape Town and TMNP
The City of Cape Town and TMNP are responsible for the management of fires in the area and have a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that defines their areas of responsibility and working relationship.
Table Mountain National Park is responsible for managing fire in the Park and on the urban edge and will assist the City in fighting veld and forest fires on municipal land.
TMNP has 76 field staff available to fight fires but during the fire season we hire 70 trained contract fire fighters to assist Park staff in fire fighting with 40 on 24 hour standby duty through out the fire season.
The City of Cape Town aims to protect life and property from fire within the Cape Town Metropolitan area and will assist the TMNP in protecting houses on the urban edge and in fighting fires that have started in road reserves or municipal land that have spread to the Park.
Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS)
The Volunteer Wildfire Services is a registered non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing the impact of wildfire hazards across the Western Cape. Operating for over 25 years in the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP), the VWS was established at Newlands Fire Base (TMNP) — the home of its first base — and has since grown into one of the largest volunteer wildland firefighting organisations in South Africa.
With a dedicated team of more than 350 trained volunteers, the VWS works tirelessly to protect and preserve the natural environment through wildfire suppression, prevention, and education. Our members undergo rigorous training in wildland firefighting, fire behaviour, first aid, and incident management to ensure safe, professional, and effective operations during the fire season supporting SANParks, City of Cape Town, CapeNature as well as many District Municipalities.
Driven by passion and a shared commitment to conserving the Cape’s unique biodiversity, the VWS continues to play a vital role in managing one of the most fire-prone yet ecologically significant landscapes in the world.
For further information on VWS, and for those who wish to join or find out they can help this volunteerism cause please visit their website at https://vws.org.za.
NCC Environmental Services
Established in 2003, NCC Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd (“NCC”), an associate of the NCC Group of companies, has been providing both specialist and operational environmental and consultancy services throughout Southern Africa and abroad (United States of America, Indian Ocean Islands, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Europe etc). Over the years, NCC’s range of services has expanded to include Health & Safety as well as Training and Development.
From inception, NCC has been involved in integrated wildfire management, either by providing specific operational firefighting services (pre-suppression, suppression and rehabilitation) or strategic support (e.g. compilation of strategic fire management plans). NCC is currently appointed to SANParks for the provision of Type 1 Interagency Wildland Fire Fighting crews for Table Mountain National Park, with integrated fire management support to other Parks in the Cape Region (Agulhas National Park, Bontebok National Park, Tankwa Karoo National Park & West Coast National Park).
NCC provides the Park with at least 60 Type 1 Interagency Wildland Firefighters, all of whom are specifically trained in wildfire suppression/prescribed burning/fuel reduction burning all under the management of SANParks specialist Integrated Fire Management Department.
Working on Fire (WoF)
Working on Fire was started to assist government and private organizations in combating wildfires. TMNP went into partnership with Working on Fire (WoF) Programme in 2004 which gives us access to the assistance of additional ground crew and equipment, such as helicopters.
Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association (CPFPA)
Appointed as Fire Protection Officer TMNP’s Manager of Fire and Technical Services, the Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association (CPFPA) was formed to prevent, predict, manage and extinguish veldfires. Membership is voluntary for private landowners but is compulsory for owners of state and local authority land.