Firstcare Wildfire Support

09/06/2026

On this morning 9 years ago you answered your final call. Bradley Richards we miss you. But your ultimate sacrifice was not in vain and your legacy lives on. The lessons learnt from this tragic incident form an integral part of our training. Even though you are not here you are still saving lives and we know that you watch over us on every call, keeping us safe. You were taken way too soon but we will never forget you. Fly high brother, untill we meet again.

07/06/2026

7 June 2017 - a date the Garden Route will never forget. One of the largest wildfires in recent history that raged unstoppable through Knysna and Plett. Taking everything in its path. Today, 9 years later, we remember those that tragically lost their lives, we say thank you to all that battled this raging beast, we say thank you to all that helped to rebuild. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten. And lastly to my friend, my colleague, my brother: Bradley Richards, you will never be forgotten. We thank you for your service. I know you are looking over us every day and keeping us safe on every call and at every burn. Fly high brother

02/06/2026

Today we partnered up with Alewijn Dippenaar for some community work in assisting HTS Eden with the cutting up of a huge tree that was uprooted during the recent storm. We will complete the job as soon as weather allows. For safety reasons we will not be cutting in the rain.

02/06/2026

We extend a huge thank you to Quattro Lubricants George https://www.facebook.com/share/1G5ZQ5nUfN/?mibextid=wwXIfr for the awesome donation of 20 liters cutter bar oil for our chainsaws.

27/05/2026

This was a tough one. 3 huge trees that had to be cut up and some smaller trees to be trimmed down. 3 full days of cutting followed by operation clean up. 6 large trailer loads and 13 loads with a small truck of branches, stumps and leaves carted away. Huge thanks to the crew that helped with this job. Property owner very happy that the property is now ready again for the new tenants.

24/05/2026

In a seperate incident some of our crew members responded to a house fire in Denneoord. Huge thanx to Jan Wolmarans for assisting in getting vehicles out and Martin Mc Namara and Anne-lize McNamara for providing assistance to the fire department

24/05/2026

What an awesome day: Today we provided a training session for the greater Wilderness area Fire Management Units. It was an awesome day where the different units had a chance to practise their skills, test their equipment and learn new skills. A day like this is not possible without input from various people and organisations. Huge thank yous go out to WRRA for arranging the day, Charlene Theron and Jaco Roux for helping with the training. A special word of thanks to Trevor from Volunteer Wildfire Services in Cape Town and now residing in the Garden Route) for his invaluable input and willingness to share his wealth of knowledge and experience. Also a special thanks to Lancewood Farms for providing the training area. Together we will make a difference.

21/05/2026

We have been extremely busy assisting with cutting and removing of uprooted trees. We also do our best to look for any chameleons that might be in these trees. We have found a couple and rehomed them to other trees on the same property. This one was found today.

19/05/2026

On Monday last week at the height of the severe windstorm that hit the Garden Route our teams were out there assisting in cutting roads open to allow access where needed, cutting trees off houses, etc. Our chainsaws ran nonstop. Due to the extreme hard workload for the saws we had the unfortunate situation where 2 of our bigger saws seized up. 1 is beyond repair and the other's repair will not be economically viable. Despite this setback crews continued doing what they can with smaller saws. Then we received the call that the Wilderness Ratepayers Association (WRRA) will replace both saws. Despite the shortage of chainsaws at that time we received the first brandnew Stihl 382 chainsaw with accessories the next day and the second a few days later. This unbelievably generous donation enabled us to continue servicing our community to the best of our ability. Furthermore we also received a generous donation of fuel from WRRA and other members of the public. Words cannot fully describe our gratitude for this support. All we can say is: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

19/05/2026