06 Sep 2020

 Members of the public are key stakeholders in fighting bushfires, says Kgalagadi District bushfire management coordinator, Ms Gloria Komanyane.

She said community members were usually the first to arrive on the scene when bushfires occurred and therefore, it was critical to equip them with the basics of extinguishing bushfires.

“As first respondents when a bushfire breaks out, it is critical to train community based bushfire volunteers,” she said. 

She was speaking during a practical training course in Khuis and Gakhibane recently.

Ms Komanyane said bushfires required a proactive approach to minimise impact on the environment. 

Therefore, she underscored the importance of imparting firefighting skills on the community. 

She said 15 members of the community from each village in Kgalagadi would be trained as front runners when a bushfire occurred.

“It is critical for bushfire first respondents to employ safety techniques so that by the time they seek assistance from forestry officials, damage on the environment would have been minimised,” said Ms Komanyane.

Furthermore, Ms Komanyane stated that bushfires were deadly because they could wipe out property, turn natural resources to ashes and even claim lives. 

She indicated that despite equipping the community with firefighting skills, shortage of resources remains a challenge. 

She said there was shortage of fire beaters, protective clothing and other necessary equipment to put out bushfires. 

Nevertheless, she said UNDP had financed procurement of bushfire fighting equipment that would be distributed to communities prone to fires in the district.

Kgosi Giel Jacobs of Gakhibane appreciated the training, saying it would save the natural resources since communities of Kgalagadi were now equipped with the requisite skills to deal with bushfires.

He said the trained first responders were active community builders, who always rose to the occasion when there were bushfire outbreaks.

Kgosi Jacobs added that between 2009 and 2011, the community of Gakhibane experienced frequent bushfire outbreaks in the area and even though not equipped with the requisite skills by then, his community actively participated to put out the fires. 

By so doing, Kgosi Jacobs said the community exhibited commendable spirit of volunteerism. 

“They applied their indigenous knowledge in extinguishing the bushfires,” said Kgosi Jacobs.

Meanwhile, one of those trained in Khuis, Mr Keoagile Tumaeletse, said in 2011, he was part of the people who participated in putting out bushfires and therefore the training was only meant to enhance and polish his firefighting skills.  

“The training enabled me to grasp more bushfire concepts in relation to the nature and type of fire,” he said.  

Mr Tumaeletse said a bushfire fighter must observe the wind blow and fight the fire flowing direction of the wind to avoid any casualties. Ends