11 Aug 2014

Some residents of areas in the Chobe District have expressed dissatisfaction with the recently purchased fire extinguishing balls.

Speaking at the practical demonstration of the balls in Kachikau recently, some felt that government had been robbed in purchasing these saying they did not put out fires completely. One of the residents, Mr Norman Maxumosaid though the balls decreased the strength of the fire, it did not put it out completely.

Kgosi Mmualefhe Mmualefhe saidt the round shape of the device made it slippery and as such could lose direction easily. He suggested that at least the device must be made in a handy shape.

Mr Dominic Diau said he was not satisfied with the performance of the balls as in the first experiment, three were thrown in but they still failed to put out the fire. “Even now, the fire is still burning,” he opined.

Forestry superintendent in the division of technical support services, Mr Moroka Tumaeletse appreciated their concerns and explained that the fire extinguishing balls were supposed to reduce the intensity of the fire, not to put it out completely.

There were also concerns that even after decreasing the intensity of the fire, with no human intervention the fire reignited back with full intensity.

Mr Tumaeletse noted that dissatisfaction and explained that this demonstrated the need for communities to help out in putting out fires despite the use of such technologies.

“We still need the input of the community because we do not want people sitting back and leaving it all to the fire extinguishing balls to do all the work,” he said.

He however appreciated the residents’ feedback and promised to relay it to the relevant authorities.

Tumaeletse explained that already, 500 fire extinguishing balls have been bought at P1 500 each to be divided amongst five fire prone districts which are home to heritage sites or of high economic value.

Chobe was the first district to have the practical demonstrations of the fire extinguishing balls carried out.

The fire extinguishing balls are supposed to be tossed into the vicinity of a fire and are said to activate within 3-10 seconds. Each ball is said to cover 8-10 meters. Ends