Update: Western Cape fire season

GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning received a status report from the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre on the current fire season in the Western Cape.

Bredell said: “Up to the end of January, we have already provided support in 14 major wildfires and dozens of smaller fires at a cost of R10.168million to the Provincial Disaster budget.

"The province works closely with municipalities, who also contributes accordingly towards these operations. Costs include the operation of 24 aerial units, ranging from spotter planes, at R4000/hour, to the large Black Hawk helicopter, at a cost of R78 000/hour.”

The Kleinmond fire has so far been the most prominent, with 5 372 hectares of land being affected. Damages reported includes 10 hectares of commercial fynbos and damages to farm fences.

“We have been very fortunate not to have suffered any human casualties or extensive damage to infrastructure up to now,” Bredell said.

“What many people do not realize is that there are often several fires that need attending to simultaneously. During the Kleinmond operation, there were also 9 other fires that needed active intervention from fire services.

"During the week of 17 to 23 January, 13 major wildfires and several smaller wildfires were reported in local and district municipalities throughout the province,” Bredell said.

It would be impossible for individual fire services to deal with large wildfires, and especially if there are several at the same time.

We have over the past ten years developed a system, where, with the coordination of the Provincial Disaster Management Centre, different fire fighting units can quickly be coordinated into a dedicated and synchronized firefighting unit.

This allows us to activate teams closest to the fire, while also allocating and sending support from other areas as needed. There is a clear chain of command and decisions can be made quickly and without political interference.

“With this system, which includes a Mutual Aid Agreement, we can count on different entities to make resources available when and where it is needed,” Bredell said.

“The past month again showed us the effectiveness of deploying aerial resources sooner than later. Although expensive, it often prevents small fires from growing into runaway wildfires which could ultimately result in serious damage to property and loss of life. Prioritising aerial support plays a large role in our success rate of extinguishing 90% of fires within the first hour, before it can potentially become runaway and uncontrollable blazes.”

Bredell said with continued hot summer weather expected over the next few months, it is essential that the public remains vigilant and responsible with open fires.