GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Days after the very successful 13th Fire Management Symposium hosted by the Forestry Department of the George Campus of Nelson Mandela University, fires raged in Gqeberha where it was reported that people were killed, houses destroyed and residents evacuated from their homes.
The provincial coordinator for the humanitarian organisation, the Gift of Givers, Corene Conradie, stated: “We are working very close with the fire department, and we are trying to evacuate the people. The fire department vehicles are also stranded on the ground as they are unable to access the fire. The wind is picking up very badly and the fire is spreading rapidly. We are trying to source helicopters to fight the fire from air and also 4×4 vehicles are urgently needed that can transport water tankers to access the area.”
This incident raises questions about lessons learned during the fires at Knysna (2017) and George (2018).
After thorough investigations and fact-finding missions about the causes and reasons for these devastating fires, detailed reports were produced by authorities that pointed out all the obstacles and pitfalls of fire management in these areas.
These reports were widely studied, and lessons learned recited. Yet, many similar fires are experienced nationally and it seems that intentions of authorities were noble at the time of these investigations, but execution of the proposed solutions in the reports failed.
The theme of the symposium was “Preparing for the next mega/disastrous fire”. The main purpose of the event was to share information and compare notes between veldfire scientists, veldfire managers and fire authorities that would indicate what has been done to offset unwanted, destructive veldfires, and to identify shortfalls in the preparation to face the next fire disaster.
Below follows a summary of the messages delivered by the 24 presenters at the event.
Political will
Integrated fire management (IFM) can be defined as the prevention of unwanted veldfires, protection of assets, human lives and the environment, suppression of unwanted veldfires, research, and rehabilitation of areas affected by veldfires.
The missing link in integrated fire management is a breakdown in communication between all role players, not using all available resources (including the human resource within the community) as well as failure to cross boundaries between management and research.
IFM should take place on all spheres of state – national, provincial, and local. If the political will and support in any of these spheres are absent or poor, the potential of IFM will be limited.
Land management can make a difference
Fire incidents are increasing because of global weather changes but also because of poor land management. In addition, the influx of people into high-risk areas and changes of vegetation composition and fuel volume in natural areas are contributing towards mega fires. Predictions are that this trend will continue.
Across the globe more days with dangerous fire weather are experienced and the number of destructive fires is increasing with the average area destroyed by raging veldfires becoming larger.
Responsibility also on landowner
Fires are a community problem and should not be the sole responsibility of authorities and fire organisations as the law places a responsibility on every landowner to intervene and manage veldfires.
It is for example not uncommon that members of the public distance themselves from veldfires and don’t even report fires to authorities once observed. This often leads to a small fire becoming very big before it is attended to.
On the bright side, a real time digital fire detection system has been designed by a South African company that can pinpoint ignitions once they started and report fires to the appropriate authority who has jurisdiction in the area of the fire.
This system has been implemented in the USA with great success. Some forestry companies in South Africa were the first to employ this system and statistics indicate a marked drop in the area lost to veldfires since. Unfortunately, this system is expensive and for this reason authorities have not invested in the system yet.
Prevention is most neglected
Fire management can be broken down in three activities: protection (measures taken to protect assets against fires), prevention (strategies and measures to prevent fires from starting), and suppression of fires once ignited.
Prevention has been identified as the most neglected fire management intervention and can be divided into education, engineering and law enforcement.
The departure point for a prevention programme is to do a fire risk analysis. A risk analysis should reveal the causes of fires and the areas that are most vulnerable to fire ignitions. Risk has been defined by one of the presenters as the effect of the uncertainty of objectives.
* Education/Awareness: - Groups who need to be sensitised and educated about veldfires include leadership, youth, public and the media.
* Engineering: - Once high-risk areas (hotspots) have been identified in a risk analysis, interventions are implemented to prevent fires from starting in these areas. This might include the construction of fire breaks, upgrading of infrastructure like roads and waterpoints or simply redesigning activities from people that cause veldfires.
* Enforcement: - Individuals or organisations that transgress or omit their responsibilities need to be held accountable. The National Veld and Forest Fire Act was promulgated to protect the people of South Africa against veldfires, and there are heavy penalties for those who fail to adhere to this law. Unfortunately, the public is not always familiar with the law and the capacity and political will to uphold the law are lacking.
Where people live matters
For example, the decision of where people should be allowed to build houses and live should be dictated by authorities considering facts about the safety of people as well as the impact of the people on the landscape.
This issue should not be debateable but dictated by law. Land use planning must take place in conjunction with environmental and fire experts. Disregarding their recommendations lead to fatalities and loss when there are mega fires.
Houses that are built in the urban interface areas (where the urban area and natural areas meet) are at risk of burning down when there are mega fires. These houses must be designed to be fire resilient and the use of fireproof building material for construction should be promoted.
Water is scarce
Water is a scarce commodity in South Africa and should be managed carefully. Mega fires have a devastating effect on groundwater as fire changes the composition of vegetation as well as soil vulnerability of the landscape. Natural vegetation is often replaced by invader species that use more water.
On the other hand areas denuded of vegetation by fires, are vulnerable to soil erosion after rains and allows very little water infiltration into the soil to replenish groundwater. The results of this are floods in the raining season and droughts in the dry season.
Role of the media
The media is one of the most valuable resources to make a difference in the veldfire challenge in South Africa. “Whoever controls the media controls the mind” (Jim Morris, former professional baseball player).
The reality is that newspapers and magazines sell when they write about sensation and heroism. Focusing on these aspects of veldfires will leave readers with the wrong impression of veldfires.
The media addresses and influences leadership, the public as well as policy and lawmakers. It also feeds and dictates views, opinions, memories, fear, and hope. Decision-making is influenced by what is published in the media.
The narrative of veldfires can be summarised as risk (negative impact of fires), causes of veldfires and advantages of planned fires. Unfortunately, the media mainly reports on the risk aspect of fires (re-active - 55%), advantages of veldfires (pro-active - 16%), and only 5% of media reports deals with the ecological impact of veldfires.
One might criticise the media for painting a skew picture about fires, but the media is not the culprit in this narrative as fire managers fail to communicate relative and important information to the media and thus also fail to build a positive relationship with the media.
If the above is considered, fire managers are missing an opportunity to educate the man in the street and fail to prevent fire-anxious communities by not planning the messages that go out to the media. Why was it the coordinator of the Gift of Givers organisation who reported about the Gqeberha fires?
Bad media makes it difficult for fire authorities to act pro-actively because of pressure from an uninformed public.
Extra capacity needed to offset veldlfire threat
The official economic muscle and resource base of South Africa cannot cope everywhere with the veldfire problem.
Extra capacity is needed to offset the veldfire threat in South Africa and there are many individuals, businesses, innovators, leaders and public groups who should contribute time and other resources towards offsetting the negative impacts of veldfires.
An attitude/mindset change is necessary, and authorities should embrace nature conservation groups/associations, hiking clubs, sport clubs, conservancies, birding groups, homeowner associations, estate management and businesses to build much needed capacity. The community has a responsibility to perform regarding fire management.
Volunteers who donate their time, skills and innovations will strengthen incident command structures in regions as well as pro- and reactive fire management activities.
Planned burning as a management measure
Fauna and flora are often disregarded by land users when it comes to fire management.
The infestation of woody weeds in natural areas must be controlled as it increases the risk of disaster fires. In addition, flammable fuels (vegetation) should be managed in an environmental responsible manner.
The use of planned burning is an important tool to achieve this goal. As fire stimulates the germination of exotic invaders plants like wattle, hakea and pine trees, burning should however not be attempted if the capacity to control weeds that are flushed out after fires does not exist.
If weeds are not controlled after fires, the infestation of weeds in natural areas are much worse than before the fire with a higher fuel load and fire intensity when the next fire takes place.
Problem-based research needed
Researchers (scientists) should engage in problem-based research and ensure that research results reach ground level. It is therefore important that the communication between fire managers and scientists are simplified and more often.
Research revealed that information written for newspapers and popular magazines are sighted 14 times more than the same results published in academic journals and books. Social media is an even stronger vehicle to communicate to the public.
Many FPAs dysfunctional
A study revealed that there are many dysfunctional Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) in South Africa, and it was proposed that these associations be deregistered by the government and re-established after role players have been retrained.
As FPAs are an important vehicle to facilitate fire management, government should take greater care to ensure functionality of these associations and must provide support to struggling associations.
Devastating effect
Veldfires have a devastating effect on emerging small and medium business owners and have a negative impact on the economic growth of South Africa.
Previous article: Wildfires planning for the inevitable
The Fire Management Symposium was attended by various stakeholders including veldfire scientists, veldfire managers and fire authorities. The Southern Cape Fire Protection Association was also represented. Photo: Alida de Beer
'We bring you the latest Garden Route news'
