The Department of Environmental Affairs’ Working on Fire (Wof) programme was kept busy during the past five weeks as more than 373 firefighters stationed at 17 bases across the Gauteng Province fought 103 wildfires since 1 August, in the winter fire season areas.
The Wof transport fleet consists of four fire-trucks (3 000l tanks), three strike units (1 500l tanks), five light delivery vans – PBs (300l tanks) and two medium-sized buses.
According to Parapara Makgahlela, the Wof Provincial Communication Officer, “Wof represents the largest wildland firefighting resource in South Africa and its ability to mobilise across provinces in the event of disaster fires has become even more crucial in the context of climate change and the resultant escalation in the risk of such fires.
“Because of the current dry, windy weather conditions experienced throughout the country, coupled with high temperatures, we have had unusual fire activity in various parts of our province and our firefighters will remain on high alert.
“Wof has also established a national deployment team which can be dispatched to anywhere in the country to assist farmers and landowners with fire suppression efforts.
“All our firefighters will remain on high alert and will be ready to provide firefighting services to landowners and municipalities. We urge communities and landowners to remain vigilant and not to start any unnecessary fires. We also urge people to keep an eye on the daily Fire Danger Index (FDI) warnings issued by the SA Weather Service.”
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