”The WoF’s programme awareness team, which is led by Lerato Mokwena, has made huge strides in educating local communities, farm workers and farmers when it comes to fire safety,” Lang said.

She added that the programme has invested numerous resources and time in order to educate and subsequently save lives and properties and confirmed that the programme has brought down the annual number of fire fatalities in different areas.

”Heidelberg, Nigel, Balfour and Devon with its vast grasslands used to be fire hotspots, but through intense fire awareness education interventions, WoF has been instrumental in curbing fires in the farms and communities where landowners are assisted in and educated in creating fire breaks before the fire season even starts,” Lang said.

The WoF awareness programme has further been assisting communities in the area by teaching them how to respond appropriately to the required standards and procedures in case of a veld fire.

Stephen Boyes (general manager for WoF in Gauteng) confirmed this and said the key tool to fighting fires is awareness through education, which forms part of the integrated fire management.

”We are glad and grateful that our impact is being felt in changing and saving lives of our people. Winter is here, we do not wish to see loss of live or property attributed to fire,” Boyes concluded.

At present, the region’s veld fires constitute only 10% of the province’s fires, whereas, for the past two years, it constituted a quarter thereof.

Out of 367 fires recorded from April 2019 to 31 March 2020, a total of 30 fires were recorded in the area.