Fires get residents fuming

Andrew Dicks of the Sun Valley Residents’ Association has offered a R1 000 reward to anyone identifying the vandal who lit a total of seven fires on Village and Willow roads on the evening of 1 September.

While most of the flames were extinguished easily, the fire brigade had to be called to deal with a larger blaze that threatened a nearby business – and according to Dicks, the community had a windless evening to thank for the minor consequences of this vicious act.

The area has a history of petty arson, said Dicks. Despite the existence of management plans and resources to cut and remove overgrown grass, pedestrians often set fire to vacant plots to remove vegetation that provides muggers an effective hiding place.

Others set fires with more malicious intent – and a higher cost, such as when a veld fire of similarly suspicious origins chased a pair of endangered African grass owls from their habitat in November last year. While that habitat is now heavily protected with fences and firebreaks, flames continue to endanger local fauna and flora, as well as destroy grazing.

In this latest incident, only two of the torched properties posed potential security risks, and residents are riled up in the face of a transparent act of vandalism.

“We’re on the warpath now, and if we catch them, we will prosecute,” Dicks promised.

This is more easily said than done, however. While arson is illegal – particularly during the no-smoke or -burning period between 1 August and 31 October – enforcement is almost impossible.

The community has not yet succeeded in catching a firebug, and locals are unable or unwilling to identify perpetrators.

In the face of this anonymous threat, all that remains is for communities to apply the advice of Working on Fire by forming fire protection associations and reducing the fuel load by cutting and removing long grass, to avoid danger in the driest season of the year.