Pre-winter fire awareness education
Last winter fire statistics on the West Rand showed high numbers of fire call-outs.
The Department of Environmental Affairs’ Working on Fire (WOF) programme recently conducted a pre-winter fire awareness campaign on the West Rand.
The purpose of the campaign is to empower communities in areas prone to veld fires with the knowledge of how to prevent fires and remain safe if a fire does occur in their area.
A campaign was conducted in collaboration with the West Rand District Municipality fire-safety division.
According to WOF, last winter fire statistics on the West Rand showed high numbers of fire call-outs. The seven WOF teams based on the West Rand were kept extremely busy extinguishing these fires.
WOF community fire awareness officer Lerato Mokwena said education is the core foundation in preventing and fighting veld and structural fires.
“As a programme we have a responsibility to educate our communities about the dangers of fire and give tips for when a fire breaks out. Part of our mandate is to save lives, which is what we are doing,” Mokwena said.
She said for the campaign to be effective, crew members from the Cradle of Humankind team, community members and the West Rand Municipality embarked on door-to-door visits, carrying fire-safety messages to households.
“The winter fire season has started early this year and we need to be confident that our communities are empowered with the knowledge that this campaign imparts. We love our people and environment and this is why we run this campaign every year.”
She said they had conducted workshops and visits in communities such as Thabo Mbeki, Kroomdraai and Slovo squatter camps among others.
She explained that squatter camps are in farming areas, which exposes them to risk of veld fires.
WOF Gauteng general manager Stephen Boyes said education is one of the key components of fire prevention and suppression.
“With this pre-winter fire-awareness campaign, we hope to educate those vulnerable to veld fires in the province. Communities need to be educated on the key pillars of integrated fire management, which are education, fuel-load reduction through slashing and fire suppression,” Boyes concluded.
He said as winter fire season approaches, WOF has a responsibility to help communities with fire safety tips.
