Dry weather and ongoing water outages put Makana at risk of devastating veldfires. Last year, 2000 hectares of private and municipal land were scorched as firefighters battled blazes in the Highlands areas. The fires mostly destroyed farms, one of which was SlaaiKraal. Another fire flared up in the Cradock area and spread as far as Ilchester road. Fires at the city dump blanketed parts of Grahamstown in smoke.
Dry weather and ongoing water outages put Makana at risk of devastating veldfires. Last year, 2000 hectares of private and municipal land were scorched as firefighters battled blazes in the Highlands areas. The fires mostly destroyed farms, one of which was SlaaiKraal. Another fire flared up in the Cradock area and spread as far as Ilchester road. Fires at the city dump blanketed parts of Grahamstown in smoke.
42,5% of Makana falls into an extreme risk fire area. While half of Makana is in a low fire risk area, any fires started in the sour grassland or moist woodland area, conditions can quickly turn a spark into a devastating conflagration.
Dried out vegetation and dry winds leave various parts of the Eastern Cape exposed and vulnerable to runaway veldfires during winter.
The Eastern Cape spokesperson for state-funded Working on Fire (WoF) programme, Nthabiseng Mokone said that this fire season, areas such as Katberg, Langeni, Ongeluksnek, Lusikisiki, Barkly East, Nqadu and Stutterheim were repeatedly affected.
WoF was founded in September 2003 in an effort to prevent and control wildfires.
Devastation
“The impact of wild fires in natural vegetation on the poorest of the poor, particularly the rural poor, cannot be overstated,” said WoF national spokesperson Linton Rensburg.
“These areas suffer the brunt of direct losses in terms of loss of life, loss of housing and possessions when thatch or wooden dwellings ignite and loss of grazing, crops livestock and subsistence natural resources.”
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries along with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Natural Resources and Environment released a National Veldfire Risk Assessment highlighting social, economic and environmental veldfire hazards in South Africa.
“Most regions in South Africa are situated in naturally fire-prone ecosystems,” says Rensburg.
The Eastern Cape – South Africa's second largest and third most populous province – is made up of mostly half Sour Grassland and Moist Woodland, and half grassy Nama Karoo and Thicket biomes. Both the Sour Grassland and the Moist Woodland fire ecology types are extreme overall veldfire risk areas. However, the Grassy Nama Karoo along with Thicket fire ecology types are overall low veldfire risk areas.
According to WoF, inherent fire hazard areas in the Eastern Cape are exacerbated by:
- climate change,
- urban development in fire-prone areas,
- extensive infestations of invading alien plants,
- fire risks associated with forestry and agriculture
- build-up of excessive fuel loads (natural, commercial and invasive).
Runaway fires
Weather SA’s Gareth Sampson said climate change and the prolonged absence of rain make vegetation much drier and are therefore primed for wildfires to ignite and spread.
He explained that strong winds contribute to runaway fires.
“When they occur the wind fans them and thus causes them to spread more rapidly,” said Sampson.
“In South Africa, during our dry winters, the veldt is dry and it is the time of the year that we experience a higher incidence of berg winds (dry hot winds blowing from the interior to the coast). It is generally during these conditions that the incidence of the possibility of runaway fires increases,” said Sampson.
Alien plants are also one of the leading causes of veldfires. Thick invasive plants like gums, wattles and hakeas make the risk all the more dangerous. The fight against invasive alien plants is spearheaded by the Working for Water (WfW) programme, launched in 1995 and administered through the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.
Sampson stated that people are also one of the leading causes of runaway veld fires.
Recklessness and ignorance are said to play a big role.
“Broken glass, unattended fires, cigarette butts and the like all have a potential of starting these fires,” said Sampson.
The National Veld and Forest Fires Act of 1998 requires landowners to take specific measures to ensure fire protection, and that communities establish Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) in order to address the need for co-ordinated fire management.
Fire fighting
Alongside WoF, an FPA called the Working on Fire Ugi Fire Control Centre has been set up in the Eastern Cape. Umbrella FPAs such as this one are said to provide over-arching services such as aerial fire-fighting support, rapid attack teams, fire weather services, and co-ordination of fire records and training.
The FireWise Communities Programme was conceived by WoF. This programme employs community projects which enable the organisation to interact directly with communities at risk from wildfires.
Most fires, if caught early can be controlled by back-burning and beating. However wild and wind-driven fire-storms threaten lives and livelihoods. Citizens are encouraged to be vigilant and aware of the severe dangers of runaway fires and join in the fight to extinguish the flames.
If you come across a fire, report it immediately to the Grahamstown fire station (046 622 4444), Makana Parks Director Kevin Bates (046 603 6072), or if in a rural area, to a local landowner.
