Free State fire victim recovering

A young farmer injured in the blazing Free State fires last week is recovering well despite the injuries being worse than originally thought.

Tewie Nel was seriously injured while helping to fight the fire when he fell into a ditch and sustained serious third-degree burns.

Andre Jansen van Rensburg, a farmer from the neighbouring town of Bultfontein, said Nel was stable and being treated in an intensive care unit.

“The burn wounds are much deeper than they anticipated,” Jansen van Rensburg said. He noted Nel was starting to recover slowly.

“He also getting blood transfusions after he lost a lot of blood.”

Jansen van Rensburg said another fire broke out since due to a lightning strike.

“Fortunately, it was a small fire and we put it out quickly. We really hope the rain season is near.” Jacques van Zyl, a farmer from Hoopstad, said he had been busy with the distribution of feed and other donations following the devastating fire.

MAP Scientific Services (Maps) fire monitoring has established that more than 96,460 hectares (964km2 ) of farmland were affected by four large fires which made up the Hertzogville fire complex last week.

Maps ecologist Andrew Purdon said since the fire began on 19 October, Maps had supported the Free State Umbrella Fire Association by providing it with near real-time updates of fires in the area using several different satellites.

“Additionally, Maps has been providing regular updates to organisations on the ground of the areas that have been burnt to help maximise decision-making and impact. The fires have so far affected over 300 different farm portions,” Purdon said.

Maps director Michael Mole said since March 2020, the organisation had mapped more than 95,000 fires across South Africa, while Dr Pieter Olivier pointed out “the devastation wrought by these fires last week highlights the risk of wildfire in South Africa”.

“It also shows us the importance of rapidly generating accurate data on fire occurrence, which will play a critical role in better understanding and mitigating the risk of catastrophic wildfires,” Olivier said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za

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