He’s a fireman. And he’s an athletics coach. Now Woodstock resident Aneeb Moses is also heading into the classroom.
Mr Moses, who is based at Salt River fire station, has spent most of his career working in the community he grew up in.
With 14 years of firefighting experience under his belt, he is now taking a lead role in the School Fire and Life Safety Programme through which he teaches youngsters to prevent fires – or what to do in the event of one.
“I have always loved working with children and when this opportunity came about, I wanted to quickly grow it, because I can do what I love and teach kids about fire safety,” he said.
When he is not on a fire truck or putting out fires in the area, he spends his time coaching pupils at Cecil Road Primary School athletics, as he was once a Western Province athlete himself.
“All our kids want is for someone to believe in them, somebody to guide them and through coaching, you can do that. I have worked with many kids in the area, you see them growing up, some good and some bad, but you try,” he said.
Mr Moses and his team regularly take school groups around the fire station, often dazzling them with displays of how they put out fires.
“It’s always fun seeing their reactions and how they go on when they see us in action. I guess most kids see firefighters as superheroes, so we try and act that way when they are here,” Mr Moses laughed.
Back in 2014, Mr Moses started getting involved in fire safety programmes when he transferred from Roeland Street fire station to Salt River fire station and started noticing the kids visiting.
The Fire and Life Safety programme is a department on its own within the fire service and firefighters voluntarily sign up. The team either visits the schools or the pupils visit the station.
“They come in to the station and we do lessons on fire life safety like, what to do in emergency situations with the kids like stop, drop and roll when your clothes are on fire, numbers like 107 to call in emergency situations and general safety around fires,” Mr Moses said.
To date, he has already worked with more than 10 schools.
“From top schools to poor schools, we cover everyone, even nursery schools and I even have a few church groups and (a) boys’ home that want to squeeze holiday programmes in for the kids,” he said.
Mr Moses started his firefighting journey in 2010 as a seasonal firefighter. He was unemployed at the time and was deployed first to Sea Point fire station, before being transferred to Roeland Street and then Salt River, where he is still based.
“I never knew much of the department but when I got introduced, I immediately fell in love as my personality and drive went hand in hand with the structure of the fire department. I knew that I had to try to get permanently employed,” Mr Moses said.
“I jumped at this opportunity because this allowed me to serve my very own community, the one that raised me.”
Asked what it takes to be accepted into the firefighting programme, Mr Moses said the assessments included running 2.4km in under 11 minutes, height and claustrophobic tests, maths, English and medical tests.
“The fire department allows me to channel that energy in a positive way and give back to the community through either fun and games or enlightening the community of things that happens behind our closed doors,“ Mr Moses added.
“I love working in my own community. It’s easier for me. I know the roads, I know the place and I know the people – this is extremely vital when responding to incidents in the area.”
