Cape Town has a new fire chief. Clinton Manuel has taken charge from last week Thursday.

He has a career in firefighting which spans more than 3 decades. His appointment to lead from the front in Cape Town’s Fire & Rescue Service, follows the retirement of his predecessor, Ian Schnetler, over 7 months ago.

New fire chief

Schnetler was at the Epping Fire Station last Thursday, to award the new CFO with his accredited stars. According to the city, Manuel joined the Cape Town Municipal Fire Brigade as a Learner Firefighter in February 1989.

Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith says, “he has served at numerous fire stations in various capacities since joining the Fire Service, including Lakeside, Epping, Salt River, Roeland Street, Gugulethu and the Epping Training Centre (later renamed the Fire & Rescue Service Training Academy).”

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Over time, he earned additional certification qualifications to advance in the ranks, including a National Diploma in Fire Service Technology in 1995 and a degree in Public Management.

I am incredibly proud, but humbled by the appointment, and that the City has entrusted the Fire and Rescue Service to my leadership. I will do my utmost to repay that trust. I want to thank my predecessor for the solid foundation he built, and I call on each and every employee in the Fire and Rescue Service, but also all of our residents, to work together to ensure that we continue building a strong and resilient Fire Service and make our city safer.

 

Here is a list of the new Fire Chief’s achievements over the past 34 years are:

• Leading the Fire & Rescue Service’s Training Centre to achieve accreditation with the Local Government Sector Education Training Association (LG SETA), the Southern African Emergency Service Institute (SAESI) and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO)
• Cape Town becoming the first South African municipal fire service to achieve membership of the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC)
• Becoming the first ever board member from Africa to serve on the Certificate Assembly Board of Governors of IFSAC
• Turning around the Knysna Fire Service during his three-year tenure as Fire Chief (end 2014 – 2018), including drafting a Fire Service By-law
• Serving as incident commander during the 2017 Knysna Fires, which was classified a Type 1 incident – the first of its kind in South Africa

Alderman Smith praised new Fire Chief Manuel, saying he has a stellar track record.

I have no doubt that Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service is in good hands. He knows the service inside out, he is familiar with the hundreds of firefighters under his watch, and he has a passion for training, development and advancement – all of the things that will help take our service to the next level. We are already one of the best, if not the best functioning Fire and Rescue Service in the country, and I look forward to seeing what additional plaudits our new Chief will lead us to.

 

MORE ABOUT: The Fire and Rescue Department