With extremely chilly weather conditions expected during the dry winter season, the minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, Ms Barbara Creecy has urged communities and landowners to remain on guard and protect themselves and their properties from the potential devastation of wildfires.
Fire prevention and suppression skills
The minister made the call as her department and the Working on Fire (WOF) are readying themselves for the winter fire season which started early this month. Ms Creecy’s department funds and administers the WOF. It is also part government’s Expanded Public Works Programme which provides work opportunities to young men and women. Youth are drawn from marginalised communities and trained in fire awareness and education, fire prevention and fire suppression skills. Other skills they are trained in include first aid, carpentry, cooking, health and safety and communications.
Increasing temperatures
According to WOF and climate experts, climate change is anticipated to increase temperatures over parts of the interior of South Africa by as much as 3 to 5 C by the end of the century. The combination of the increasing temperatures and increased drought spells would worsen incidence of fire risks or outbreaks. In addition, experts say while some fires would be caused by humans others would burn spontaneously in the open dry vegetation due to prolonged and climate change-induced drought. Last year the National Geographic recorded record-breaking soaring temperatures in Canada while Turkey and Greece experienced devastating spontaneous wildfires destroyed vast hectares of forest and several residential areas leaving thousands homeless.
Annual training camps
In the media statement, the minister said that as part of their preparation for the fire season, over 4000 fire-fighters and their managers are stationed at 160 bases across the north of the country. All fire-fighters completed their Annual Yellow Card Training Camps in April and May and have been declared fit and ready for the Winter Fire Season, added Ms Creecy.
Remove overgrown vegetation
Explaining further, she said the WOF has also deployed 10 helicopters and nine fixed wing spotter planes together with 26 pilots to provide aerial fire-fighting support to its ground crews. Additional aerial fire-fighting resources are made available to various Fire Protection Associations when the need arises. WOF is already assisting partners and landowners to ready for the winter fire season through its Integrated Fire Management Services (IFMS), explained the minister. “As the winter fire season is in full swing we appeal to community members to remove overgrown vegetation on their properties, which can pose a serious fire risk. Properties next to grasslands need to ensure there are sufficient fire breaks between their properties and these grasslands,” said minister Creecy.
Destruction of fertile lands
Every year South Africa experiences an increase in the outbreaks of wildfires which destroy hectares of arable agricultural lands and some of the places of historical and cultural value. Recently several homes in Somerset West, in Cape Town, were completely gutted leaving two fire-fighters hospitalised as they were trying to extinguish the fire. Last year in April fires broke out at the foot of Table Mountain destroying scores of building on the campus of the University of Cape Town. Also gutted were the Jagger Library, the restaurant at Rhodes Memorial, the iconic Mostert’s Mill and several other residential houses. In October 2021, two million hectares in the Free State, North West, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape were reportedly destroyed by fire. Valuable infrastructure and livestock were also destroyed by the wildfires.
Magaliesberg Biosphere
According to the chairperson of the North West Umbrella Fire Protection Association, Eric Thabo Stoch, 626,164ha in the province have burnt. Estimates at the time put the losses at between R3-billion and R3.5-billion for the season. In total, about 12% of agricultural land and 6% of the North West province has been destroyed by wildfires. One of the affected areas includes parts of the Magaliesberg Biosphere, an international reserve proclaimed by UNESCO in 2015 for its exceptional natural, cultural and human characteristics. The reserve also forms part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site.
