Specially trained fire fighters are prepared as experts warn that there will be an increased risk of veld and forest fires in the Eastern Cape in the upcoming winter fire season.
Specially trained fire fighters are prepared as experts warn that there will be an increased risk of veld and forest fires in the Eastern Cape in the upcoming winter fire season.
Working on Fire (WoF), the Department of Environmental Affairs’-funded programme to help fight forest and veld fires, has been hard at work in the Eastern Cape during the past few months as it prepares its fire fighters for the upcoming fire season.
Preparation for the fire season includes fire fighter training, fitness and competency tests and vehicle maintenance, to ensure the organisation is up to the task of fire-fighting in the Eastern Cape in areas which can be mountainous and dangerous.
The Eastern Cape team, operating from its head office in Stutterheim, has stations at 28 bases across the province. Aerial support is made up of spotter planes and helicopters, managed by dispatch centres in Stutterheim and Port Elizabeth.
The project includes teams of fire fighters situated in the Cacadu District, specifically in Tsitsikamma, Longmore, Addo, Witelsbos and Joubertina.
The 2014 winter fire season officially begins on 1 June and continues to the end of October.
The Eastern Cape 2013 fire season was busy, with over 361 fires which burned an estimated 70 205 hectares.
General Manager of the Eastern Cape WoF team, Ian Henderson, said his ground and aerial teams have been stationed in areas with high fire risk. “Through our partnerships with Fire Protection Associations, SANPARKS, ECPTA, various private and public landowners and local municipalities, we are be able to respond quickly in rendering a skilled veld fire suppression service which is unparalleled anywhere in South Africa,” he said.
“What has made this 11-year-old programme successful is the fact that fire fighters are drawn from poor communities, due to the government’s Expanded Public Works Programme,” he said.
WoF beneficiaries are employed year round, and apart from their seasonal firefighting work, they also participate in fire prevention campaigns in communities regularly affected by veld fires, “said Henderson.
Firefighters, 31% of whom are women, are also trained in professions such as carpentry, brush cutting, cooking, first aid and computer skills.
