Working on Fire team busy this season
Highest number of fires are recorded in the area this time of the year.
The Heidelberg team of the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Working on Fire (Wof) programme is hard at work helping landowners and farmers with fire breaks and block burns since June.
“We urge landowners in particular to get into contact with us so that we can assist with the development of clear integrated fire management services which includes (amongst others) prescribed burning, fuel load reduction, community fire awareness, early detection and fire suppression plans,” Phineas Mphela (team project manager) said.
Mphela said the WoF-team has already conducted fire breaks at Sedaven and on farms around Heidelberg.
“We firmly believe that through our partnerships with provincial disaster management centres, fire protection associations, SANParks, local municipalities and various private and public landowners we will be able to respond quickly in rendering a highly skilled veld fire suppression service which is unparalleled anywhere in the country,” Mphela said.
“We recorded 448 fires and 19 722 hectors of land were burnt in Gauteng last year. Our WoF programme fire fighters are professionally trained to suppress veld and forest fires and they have been deployed throughout the province to reduce the personal and economic harm caused by unwanted wildfires,” Stephen Boyes (general manager: WoF Gauteng) explained.
The WoF Heidelberg team is stationed at Lesedi Fire and Rescue in Loveday Street, Rensburg or phone the fire station on 016 341 4327.
