Firefighters with plans for fire hazards on farms
The association said they will be embarking on awareness campaigns where they will raise community safety awareness about fire risks
As winter approaches, which is a time when many fires break out, the Umtshezi Fire Protection Association held a meeting with other stakeholders today (April 19) to discuss plans to avoid incidents in areas where fires normally occur.
The meeting was held at a farm along the R103 towards Mooi River. According to the association, they held the meeting on this state-owned farm because that is where a fire broke out last year and damaged many hectares; there is no one taking care of the farm.
The aim of the meeting was to plan how to avoid the same situation this year.
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Association chairman and fire protection officer Warren Blaker said, ‘’Here we have the problem of state-owned land. Last year, we had a fire here. To put out the fire, we got a Working On Fire (WOF) team to help us and we became partners. With the team, we put methods in place to mitigate the risk of a fire in this area. What we are going to do is put firebreaks in place to prevent disasters.
“We got support from landowners and the community; this place has been a huge problem in the past, but now we have the solution to get rid of the risk.’’
Blaker continued to explain that last year, they lost about six and a half thousand hectares between Estcourt and Mooi River. He said they have a problem where people don’t understand the rules and regulations of how to use firebreaks; there is a huge gap between emerging farmers and communities in understanding the rules and regulations regarding fire dangers and risks.
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