Fire fighters fit for fire season
MIDRAND - Working on Fire in Midrand is already preparing their workers to deal with the veld fires in the open plots of Midrand and Kyalami.
Last year in August, a veld fire destroyed a President Park cottage; in October a fire burnt down 10 informal houses and left 21 people homeless in Rabie Ridge; and in November a veld fire destroyed the nesting ground of a pair of endangered African grass owls.
In anticipation for the dry winter season, which sees an increase in veld fires, Working on Fire Gauteng Province conducted a yellow card training assessment camp to test the fitness of the fire fighters for the upcoming fire season.
Provincial communications officer for Gauteng Parapara Makgahlela said 13 Working on Fire teams from the province attended the camp.
Working on Fire is a skills development programme that focuses on integrated fire management and is an extended public works programme to help alleviate poverty.
The programme conducts fire awareness campaigns, slashes grass, performs controlled burns, and if a fire is reported, performs initial attacks.
Working on Fire’s general manager in Gauteng, Avhasei Maswime, said that yellow card assessment training ensures that firefighters are ready for the fire season.
A Working on Fire worker, Tumelo Mokwape, is ready for the fire season after he completed a 2.4km run in just over ten minutes.
“Assessing the fire fighters is part of observing and implementing occupational and health safety rules,” Maswime said.
Last year, Makgahlela urged Midrand residents, living in areas with a high risk of veld fires, to establish fire protection associations which would partner with the Working on Fire programme.
Makgahlela said veld fires could be started in a range of ways, from human negligence, such as throwing burning cigarettes in dry grass or leaving a fire unattended, to natural fires, such as those sparked by lightning.
