Working on Fire (WoF), the Government funded programme to help fight veldfires, has been hard at work during the past few months, as it readied itself for the winter fire season in Gauteng, which officially started on 1 June.
Close to 300 WoF veldfire fire fighters are stationed at 12 bases across Gauteng. These fire fighters are ready to spring into action within minutes of receiving a call for help, following the start of the Gauteng fire season. Many specialists expect that there will be an increased risk of veld and forest fires, given the current long term weather forecast for the Province.
According to Avhasei Maswime, the General Manager of WoF in Gauteng, “WoF fire fighters are professionally trained to suppress veld and forest fires and they have been deployed throughout Gauteng to reduce the personal and economic harm caused by unwanted wildfire. We have deployed our WoF and Aerial teams in areas with the highest fire risk, and they can be on the scene within six minutes of receiving a call for help.
“We are confident that once we have received a request for assistance through our existing partnership agreements with the Fire Protection Associations, local municipalities and other partners, we will be able to render highly skilled veldfire suppression services which is unparalleled anywhere in South Africa.”
Maswime also pointed out that the 2012 fire season was difficult in the Province with over a 150 fires and an estimated 5 000 hectares were burnt.
“The prospects for the 2013 fire season vary from fair in parts to very bad in others. Parts of the province are already in dry season thus vulnerable to possible serious run away fires and our teams have already responded to a total of 17 fires to date. So even people who are on the other parts of the province which received late rainfall must refrain from starting uncontrolled fires,” said Maswime.
He also cautioned people to be extra careful when starting fires, as a fire can be a friend, to keep the night chill away, to cook a meal, but an uncontrolled fire can be the worst foe destroying anything and everything in its path. It causes destruction of things we hold dear, from, people, homes, pets to our environment and planet.
