Firefighters’ bravery praised
Great appreciation has been expressed for all the fire protection associations (FPA) throughout the country.
KNYSNA – The fire protection associations (FPA) assisted rescue workers in the Knysna area to fight the fires since last week.
The Lowveld Escarpment Fire Protection Association (Lefpa) deployed local pilots, Rinus van Raaij and Koos Kieck. Quentin Steyn, Bruce Benson and Zayin Vermaak from were also deployed to the area to assist, where they remain.
Van Raaij returned to Mbombela on June 13. The others were working on the ground earlier this week, Lowvelder could not reach them telephonically to speak to them.
However, Kishugu spokesman, Naranda Leeuwner, who has been in communication with the newspaper continuously, said all the FPAs as far as Tzaneen needed a special thanks for their contribution to the team effort.
Kishugu is the implementing agent for Working on Fire (WoF), which focuses on implementing integrated fire management.
Both Kishugu and WoF form part of the Mpumalanga Umbrella Fire Protection Association (MUFPA) and LEFPA is one of 13 such FPA’s with in MUFPA.
Kishugu is the implementing agent for Working on Fire (WOF), which focuses on implementing integrated fire management.
André Scheepers of LEFPA confirmed that the WoF team based in Waterval Boven was also deployed to the Cape on Sunday.
WoF spokesman Lauren Howard said, at the time of going to press, close to 450 houses and 21 500 hectares of land had been destroyed.
They had 485 firefighters in 22 ground teams working in areas all around Knysna, stretching from Sedgefield to Plettenburg Bay. It is expected that the firefighters will remain to combat any flare-ups for at least another week.
