Fire complaints receive attention
It is believed honey hunters were responsible for the fire which burnt under high fire danger conditions.
FOLLOWING a public outcry regarding smoke from a fire on a property belonging to Mondi Forests north of Richards Bay this past weekend, a meeting was held at the Richards Bay Clean Air Association offices on Wednesday.
Stakeholders including representatives from the provincial and uThungulu Disaster Management task team, uMhlathuze Fire and Rescue, Mondi Forests, Zululand Fire Protection Association and the Richards Bay Clean Air Association attended the meeting.
Sandy Camminga from the Richards Bay Clean Air Association was inundated with calls about the fire which started at around 1pm on Friday, 1 April.
It is believed honey hunters were responsible for the fire which burnt under high fire danger conditions.
A Fire Danger Index of a high ‘Orange’ was recorded with temperatures reaching 32 degrees Celsius and humidity of 35%.
The fire covered an area of 5ha and was 150m from edge of the Wildenweide residential area.
Mondi immediately dispatched three fire crews who were on the scene within 15 minutes.
Four crews fought throughout the night, but on Saturday it was decided that the situation had become unsafe and the firefighters were withdrawn.
Trenching to a depth of two metres was undertaken on the northern and southern ends of the fire and leaf litter was scraped along the road edge to stop the fire from spreading into the commercial forestry areas.
The fire will be left to ‘burn out’ before hot spots can be identified.
Security staff and a fire truck remained on the scene as the area posed a hazard to curious children and livestock.
It is expected that the fire will continue to burn heavily for at least another two weeks.
Rainy conditions, with southerly winds, will reduce the affect of smoke in the neighbouring residential areas until Sunday.
Northerly winds are forecast for Sunday, before temperatures rise again on Monday with accompanying high temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius and a low humidity of 50%.
Cooler weather is expected again from Tuesday.
Mitigation
It was agreed that although various community outreach programmes are underway in the area, these need to be intensified.
The ZFPA, Provincial and uThungulu Disaster Management and Working on Fire crews are working with rural communities warning them of the dangers of fires.
The KZN Beekeepers Association, with the major forestry companies, are also involved in training community beekeepers.
Camminga has recommended that residents who have respiratory health conditions seal their houses to keep the smoke out.
This can be done by using wet towels to seal doors and windows.
She said people must not forget to close the air vents in the house as it is difficult to get the smoke out.
Camminga has also asked the the public contact her as soon as smoke is detected.
This will ensure that remedial action can be taken before it becomes a major problem.
Her contact numbers are 035 7860076 or 083 5152384.
