Durban — Firefighters from the Working on Fire (WOF) programme battled 231 fires in KwaZulu-Natal during the fire season.
WOF, which is a programme by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, worked tirelessly alongside partners and landowners to save lives and the environment in KZN.
WOF said that a total of 231 fires were suppressed in the 2023 fire season and October was the busiest month for aerial resources, dropping over 190 water drops.
“We are fortunate to have yet another winter fire season with no fatalities in the province. We remain appreciative of the dedication and discipline from our firefighters, the support received from our base partners, and the collaborative partnership with the Fire Protection Association during this winter fire season,” said WOF KZN acting general manager Hloniphile Ndlovu.
WOF - Kishugu Joint Venture, as the implementing agent of the WOF Programme, dispatched teams to suppress 231 fires, which burnt 3 254.407 hectares, with 123.87 hours of aerial suppression.
“We have attended to more fires this year compared to last year’s 200 fires,” Ndlovu said.
She also said that the most common causes of these fires are human negligence such as bee hunters, community members starting a fire to burn rubbish without checking the Fire Danger Index, lack of resources when starting fire breaks and leaving fires unattended.
Ndlovu added that the province is proud of the Kishugu pilots for their efficiency during the NCT fire as they flew over 100 hours during the 7-day fire at NCT Woodchip. They ensured the fire at NCT didn’t spread to unburned wood chips at the neighbouring TWK Mill, by dropping a total of 585 300 litres, with no TWK wood chip stockpiles lost.
In mid-September, WOF reported that a total of 166 fires had been fought since the beginning of the winter fire season, with August being the busiest month.
At the time, Ndlovu said that August is one of the windiest months in the winter fire season where we recorded a total of 63 fires compared to July’s 51 fires. (We) dispatched 19 WOF teams to assist in various fire-prone communities, commercial forestry plantations and nature reserves.
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