- A highly venomous snake was discovered in one of the pipes of a Fire and Rescue Services truck at the weekend.
- The City of Cape Town's mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the crew members were returning from a vegetation fire on the West Coast road when they spotted the snake while refuelling.
- The City said it was "extremely uncommon for animals to hitch a ride with a fire engine".
A Cape Town fire crew was caught off guard when they discovered a boomslang in one of the pipes of their fire trucks on Friday.
The City of Cape Town's mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the crew members were returning from a vegetation fire on the West Coast road when they spotted the slithery stowaway while stopping to refuel.
"Crew members noticed a strange black and yellow hose on the truck that wasn't there before. Identified as a male boomslang, the snake is thought to have climbed on board in an attempt to escape the burning grasslands from earlier," he added.
Smith said although the boomslang does not attack if unprovoked it was still highly venomous, which was why a qualified handler was requested to capture the snake and help release it back into its natural habitat.
With Cape Town officially entering its fire season as temperatures rise, firefighters are already battling several fires.
Over the festive season, the City will ensure two helicopters are available to assist with aerial firefighting and 120 seasonal firefighters are on call to assist professional firefighters in battling veldfires, as well as veldfire management and prevention methods.
Between 1 November 2021 and 2 January 2022, the City's Fire and Rescue Services responded to almost 4 000 fires.
Most were vegetation fires, followed by residential ones.
According to fire and rescue spokesperson Jermaine Carelse, it was "extremely uncommon for animals to hitch a ride on a fire engine".
"There has been a spate of fires recently, especially in informal settlements and vegetation fires. The fires that kept us busy were the ones in Grabouw, Blaauwberg and Melkbos over the past weekend," he said.
Carelse added seasonal firefighters had bolstered resources, and another 117 staff would assist with vegetation fires.
"The dry, windy and hot weather is a contributing factor to the many vegetation fires we face on a daily basis," he said.