Mr Daniels, along with his wife, Naomi and 10-year old son, Lance managed to contain and extinguish a fire which began on the properties surrounding the Cape Town campus. This was after he received a telephone call from the University security to inform him that a fire was headed for the campus and could potentially harm the nursery complex. The fire had already spread onto the south-east corner of the university and threatened to destroy the entire nursery complex on 24 December 2005.
Due to the fires which were taking place on the Table Mountain, the City Council Fire Department was unable to assist him. Mr Daniels then decided to take it upon himself and his family to attend to the fires.“When my family and I arrived on campus we discovered the fires already entered the nursery area and had engulfed many of the trees, irrigation pipes, and structures outlying the glasshouses. At one stage the glasshouses and the propagation tunnels were also under threat,” said Mr Daniels.
The fire was fierce due to the dry weather conditions and a south-easter blowing at more than 100 kilometers per hour.
After more than five hours Mr Daniels, his wife, son, and two security guards managed to control the fire before severe damage was done to permanent structures.
Due to the university being closed, Mr Daniels was unable to obtain immediate funding for material and labour. He made use of his own resources to do the most urgent repairs in order for the irrigation system to be operational once again.
After their brave efforts in helping with the fire, his wife and son also lent a hand with the repairs.
The award confirms the gratitude of the Department, the Faculty and the University for their exceptional courage in the face of danger, and exceptional loyalty and dedication to duty in ensuring that the irrigation system was re-activated and no plants were lost due to the non-functioning of the irrigation system.
