Winter fire season: West Rand tops list
The West Rand is the leading fire incident area with 33 fires attended to – Working on Fire.
The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries’ Working on Fire programme is fully active during the winter fire season, which generally runs from June to October every year in Gauteng.
The province has to date recorded 67 fires with 2 668 hectares of land burned thusfar during the 2019 winter fire season.
According to Stephen Boyes, General Manager for the Working on Fire programme in Gauteng, the West Rand is the leading fire incident area with 33 fires attended to. De Wildt in the Pretoria West area Follows closely with 20 fires. The 2018 fire season recorded 410 fires with an estimated 65 745 hectares of land burned.
“We have 368 firefighters at 17 bases spread around the province, ready and fit to tackle these fires. Currently, all teams are busy burning firebreaks and reducing fuel loads where necessary.”
Boyes said that from August, the likelihood that more fires will spread across the province will increase, because of the high fire danger index caused by the dry fuel loads, the ever-present north-westerly winds and the low humidity levels experienced at this time of the year.
“Farmers and other landowners need to be vigilant during this period to avoid the loss of agricultural production and properties,’’ he cautioned.
“I advise all landowners to join their local Fire Protection Associations in order to access advice and assistance with preparations for the fire season and help in the event of a wildfire, either on their property or threatening it.”
He also warned people not to leave fires unattended, and not to drop burning cigarette butts outdoors.
“We urge landowners to contact the Working on Fire programme for advice on how best to implement integrated fire management techniques. It is also imperative that landowners have knowledge of and understand the requirements of the National Veld and Forest Fire Act 101 of 1998. There are a number of legal requirements that landowners must adhere to in order to be compliant in protecting their properties and preventing the spread of fire.”
Boyes went on to say that Working on Fire teams carry out fire prevention initiatives such as fuel load reduction, prescribed burning, creation of firebreaks and mandatory fire safety campaigns before the start of the critical fire season.
Working on Fire teams will complete their firebreak preparation programme for various landowners and Fire Protection Associations by the end of July. Most Fire Protection Officers in Gauteng put a ban on burning after this date.
‘‘Landowners are legally bound to prepare firebreaks during May, June and July of every year, in order to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.”
