WOF prepares for fire season

LIMPOPO – PREPARATIONS for this year’s fire season are afoot at the department of environmental affairs’ Working on Fire (WoF), where landowners are assisted to make fire breaks, and block burns for land owners are also conducted.

WoF spokesperson, Matema Gwangwa, said the province experienced the worst fire season last year and people had been warned to be ready this year.

Gwangwa said the late summer rains that the province experienced resulted into heavy, dense and thick vegetation, which would make firefighting more difficult and challenging.

“Our fire awareness teams are also out conducting educational campaigns to schools and rural communities about the dangers of fire and also equipping them with skills on how to react during fires,” she said.

WoF provincial general manager, Manyele Maepa, said this year they were working closely with the district and local municipalities. “We believe that we will work very well together and closely in fighting and preventing fires across the province. We urge landowners and farmers to also work closely with fire prevention associations,” he said.

“Since May 1, WoF has attended to 79 fires across the province, where 32 teams of firefighters were used to suppress these wildfires. Thirteen WoF ground resources which consist of fire trucks, other trucks, busses and bakkies are ready to assist the 650 firefighters in the province when they tackle any upcoming wildfires,” Maepa sad.