04 Jul 2013

Maun assistant district commissioner, Mr Mogomotsi Madome has thanked officials of New South Wales Rural Fire Services from Australia for helping Botswana build capacity in wild land fire management.

Officiating at a three-day workshop on the Crew Leader Training on fire management facilitated by New South Wales officials on July 3 , Mr Madome said ever since they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Botswana, they had been marvelous in giving guidance, support and expertise to ensure that training run smoothly.

He noted that Department of Forestry and Range Resources (DFRR) used lots of resources every year to protect natural resources, scenic places, monuments and other valuables from wild land fire. Mr Madome said training would equip participants on how to manage and safe guard their crew before, during and after fire suppression.

However, he observed that wild land fires could be a threat to human lives, property, animals and the country’s natural resources at large. Training, he said, came at the right time as the fire season had just began  and urged participants to take it seriously and apply what they had learnt in conjunction with indigenous technical knowledge to effectively manage fires and even reduce the number of fire outbreaks per district.

“As we strive towards effective fire management in Botswana, let us reflect on the good lives we lived during our youth and come to appreciate how much environment was contributing towards that. Then we would all work towards conserving our resources not only from fire but also from other adverse impacts such as desertification and global warming which are mostly influenced by climate changing activities that we engage in”, he said.

Mr Madome thanked the Australians for their support through different initiatives such as the donation of fire-fighting uniform to DFRR. He also requested the facilitators to see how they could assist Botswana in areas of rehabilitation of affected areas by fire, operationalisation of the wild land fire brigade.

The assistant district commissioner urged the facilitator to come up with a Fire Danger Index suitable for Botswana. Participants were taught about leadership styles, factors influencing fire behaviour, situational awareness, safety on the fire ground and how to mobilise first respondents.

One of the facilitators, Mr Steve Tamworth explained that it was important for a leader to respect his /her crew so that they could follow instructions and respect decisions. He also emphasised the need for good communication noting that it was vital to put in place communication systems and ensure that they work for the benefit of the crew.

“The quicker information is communicated more people would respond positively”, he said. ENDS