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Fire Fighting

22 January 2021 Weather Alert: Severe Weather Alert: Impact Based Weather Warnings for Western Cape and Namaqua

Weather Alert: Severe Weather Alert: Impact Based Weather Warnings for Western Cape and Namaqua

The South African Weather Service has issued the following Impact Based Severe Weather Forecast:

HAZARD: Veld Fire Conditions

Alert Level: Red(L10)

Affected Municipalities: Beaufort West, Breede Valley, Cederberg, Hantam, Kamiesberg, Kannaland, Karoo Hoogland, Laingsburg, Langeberg, Matzikama, Nama Khoi, Prince Albert and Witzenberg.

Valid From (SAST): 22/01/2021 – 01h00

Valid To (SAST): 23/01/2021 – 18h00

Discussion: Weather conditions which include hot temperatures, fresh to strong winds and low humidity might result in the development of runaway and veld/bush fires.

Impact: Conditions are such that the FDI index is above 75. Under these conditions, fires may develop and spread rapidly resulting in damage to property and possible loss of human and/or animal life.

Instruction: All personnel and equipment should be removed from the field. Fire teams, labour and equipment are to be placed on full standby. At the first sign of smoke, every possible measure should be taken in order to bring the fire under control in the shortest possible time.

Report any severe weather-related incidents to the Garden Route Disaster Management Centre at telephone number 044 805 5071.

Legal notice:
“This warning from SA Weather Service must be communicated as received and may not be altered under any circumstance.  It must be forwarded or communicated in its entirety and no portion hereof may be replicated or copied and distributed.”

21 January 2021 Weather Alert: Severe Weather Alert: Impact Based Weather Warning for Western Cape and Namaqua

Weather Alert: Severe Weather Alert: Impact Based Weather Warning for Western Cape and Namaqua

The South African Weather Service has issued the following Impact Based Severe Weather Forecast:

HAZARD: Veld Fire Conditions

Alert Level: Red(L10)

Affected Municipalities: Beaufort West, Breede Valley, Cederberg, Drakenstein, Hantam, Kamiesberg, Kannaland, Karoo Hoogland, Laingsburg, Matzikama, Nama Khoi, Prince Albert, Swartland and Witzenberg.

Valid From (SAST): 21/01/2021 – 08h00

Valid To (SAST): 22/01/2021 – 20h00

Discussion: Weather conditions which include hot temperatures, fresh to strong winds and low humidity might result in the development of runaway and veld/bush fires.

Impact: Conditions are such that the FDI index is above 75. Under these conditions, fires may develop and spread rapidly resulting in damage to property and possible loss of human and/or animal life.

Instruction: All personnel and equipment should be removed from the field. Fire teams, labour and equipment are to be placed on full standby. At the first sign of smoke, every possible measure should be taken in order to bring the fire under control in the shortest possible time.

Report any severe weather-related incidents to the Garden Route Disaster Management Centre at telephone number 044 805 5071.

Legal notice:
“This warning from SA Weather Service must be communicated as received and may not be altered under any circumstance.  It must be forwarded or communicated in its entirety and no portion hereof may be replicated or copied and distributed.”

26 August 2020 Media Release: Garden Route District Municipality and stakeholders bump up efforts to extinguish peat-wetland fires

Media Release: Garden Route District Municipality and stakeholders bump up efforts to extinguish peat-wetland fires

For immediate release
26 August 2020

On 26 June 2020, the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Fire & Rescue Services commenced with efforts to finally extinguish peat fires in the Garden Route district. One at the Kamma River in Bonniedale, Mossel Bay and the other at Weyers River in Bergfontein, Albertinia. Peat-wetland fires pose a threat to ecosystems by releasing smoke and heat through soil and vegetation, compromise wetlands.

Mr Deon Stoffels, Station Officer: Fire Safety and Training from GRDM at the peat fire in Bonniedale.

The response from the GRDM Fire & Rescue Service officials was first to assess and demarcate the exact extent of the peat fires. According to Mr Deon Stoffels, GRDM Fire Station Officer for Fire Safety and Training, smoke was evident on arrival – in small pockets appearing from underground”. This necessitated follow-up site visits on 29 June and 02 July 2020 whereby thermal images were captured with the municipality’s Thermal Imaging Drone to map and confirm the underground fire activity.

The immediate role-players involved in the response and planning were GRDM Fire & Rescue Services, Department Environmental Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF), Working for Wetlands, Cape Nature and the respective landowners.

Mr Johan Brand, Station Officer from GRDM Fire and Rescue Services holding one of the tools utilised in the testing and assessment of the sub-surface layers.

The above-mentioned site visits were followed up in middle July for the purpose to capture more thermal imagery to estimate the extent of the spread after two periods of moderate to heavy rainfall. Following the assessment, it was confirmed that the spread of the fire continued.

On the 28 and 29 July 2020, all role-players engaged in on-site visits and the peatland specialist from DEFF, with the assistance of representatives of GRDM Fire & Rescue and Cape Nature, performed assessments and tests. “These were done to determine the full extent of the peat fires, e.g. depth of underground fire activity, condition of the wetland, as well as the environmental and ecological impact of the fire and if continues, the fire activity,” Mr Stoffels, said.  After assessments and tests were completed it was jointly agreed that an Offensive Strategy would be the most practicable approach to deal with the underground and/or peat fires which include;

  • preventing the spread of fire;
  • fighting and extinguishing the fire; and
  • protection of life and property against the fire or other threatening danger:
  • In this case also, the protection of the environment against the fire and other threats.

The strategy will assist in mitigating adverse impacts on the environment, as well as aid in protecting and sustaining the biodiversity of wetlands. Role-players such as GRDM Fire & Rescue, the landowners, Cape Nature, Working for Wetlands, Southern Cape Fire Protection Association and Working on Fire were involved from beginning of the process, however the GRDM Fire and Rescue Services and the landowners started with their operations on 19 August 2020 and Cape Nature on 21 August 2020.

According to Dr Nina Viljoen, Manager for Environmental Management as GRDM, peatlands are present in a third of wetlands worldwide, which contribute a range of ecosystem services. The most pronounced services are biodiversity conservation, water quality and climate regulation. The addition of peat to a wetland allows these wetlands to have additional ecosystem services. She added: “The unique properties of peat allow for a variation in the dynamics of the ecosystem services provided.  This makes peatlands a major contributor to wetlands’ increased capacity for climate, water quality and quantity regulation, biodiversity conservation and waste assimilation”.

Areas in the Garden Route district affected by the wildfire. Thermal images captured with the Thermal Imaging Drone of Garden Route District Municipality.

Dr Viljoen further explained: “The destruction of peatlands by means of fires causes a visible and immediate degradation in the integrity of the aquatic ecosystems downstream of peatlands. This causes major changes to change the hydrology of the peatland system, as well as rivers and associated ecosystem health. Compared to global abundance, she said: “Peatlands are an extremely scarce ecosystem type in South Africa, with only 1% of total wetland area being peatlands. It provides water quality (water purification and waste assimilation) function which causes peatlands to demonstrate a very significant ecosystem services value”.

What is peat?

Peat, also known as turf is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition.

Peatlands cover approximately 3% of the earth’s surface. The global carbon stored in peat is estimated to be about 500 billion tonnes, which is approximately 30% of the world’s soil carbon. Furthermore, peat stores 10% of the world’s fresh water”.

Peatlands are more valuable than normal wetlands due to the presence of peat stocks within them. Based on the services evaluated and the available data, the value of the cumulative services provided by South African peatlands was estimated to be as high as R174 billion, expressed as an ecological infrastructure value. It is therefore of the utmost importance to protect these type of wetlands against destruction, and to assess the causes of these two identified peat fires in the Garden Route district.

How do peat fires occur?

Peat fires can occur sporadically in smaller peatland systems due to system dehydration and desiccation brought on by either drought (the presence of a heat source), localised draining or flow interruption by roads – it smoulders. These smouldering fires can burn undetected for very long periods of time (months, years, and even centuries) propagating in a creeping fashion through the underground peat layer.

The current drought in the region and associated peat fires bear testimony to the vulnerability of these ecosystems to the variability in our climate patterns which can result in drought-induced peat fires in the Western Cape.

ENDS

26 May 2020 Media Release: Ecological grief sets in as the lockdown highlights the looming plight of greater humanity – the destruction of our environment

Media Release: Ecological grief sets in as the lockdown highlights the looming plight of greater humanity – the destruction of our environment

For Immediate Release
26 May 2020

“In an ongoing series of debates with experts in various fields, the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) seeks to highlight aspects related to COVID-19 demands on humanity, and that which is unfolding as climate change steadily brings about corresponding and irreversible changes with daunting challenges,” says Cobus Meiring of the GREF Secretariat.

The matter of the fairly new concept of ecological grief and human behaviour, which was instigated by COVID-19, highlights the looming plight of greater humanity: the destruction of our environment.

According to Hanna Kotze, an organisational culture consultant and clinical social worker, climate change brings an unknown threat to normality in terms of how humans will experience the environment, and it will do so in many respects that are more often than not difficult to comprehend or even believe. In as much as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is invisible, but the threat is very real and present, so is climate change, and humanity sense the danger, which in turn brings about a constant anxiety.

Says Kotze, “Ecological grief is a relatively new term for the subconscious but the concept embraces the collective grief humanity experiences when witnessing and experiencing loss of biodiversity and the destruction of the natural environment.”

“Natural disasters with their roots in climate change, such as the recent Knysna wildfire disaster, catastrophic drought in South Africa, Hurricane Katrina in the USA, wildfires in Australia and Europe, and the Idai tropical cyclone in Mozambique are all examples where humanity suffers from ecological grief, which no doubt impacts on the emotional well-being of nations affected,” explains Kotze.

“Many of us may feel paralysed by panic over climate change and overwhelmed by the pace and scale of ecological losses. Mourning nature does a great service by giving a name to this grief, setting us all within a community of others who mourn alongside us, and by guiding us to respond not with despair but with hope and courage”.

“Hopefully, the advent of COVID-19 will have the right kind of response in how we ensure a more sustainable future in South Africa and the world, and planning for what is to come will go a long way in ensuring just that,” concludes Kotze.

Humanity feels overwhelmed by the sheer destruction of our environment brought about by increasingly devastating natural disasters with their roots in a changing climate. (Photo: SCLI)

The Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) is a public platform for environmental management entities in the Southern Cape, and a regional think tank on climate change mitigation and adaption.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Cobus Meiring: Chair of the Garden Route Environmental Forum Secretariat

Cell: 083 626 7619

Email: cobus@naturalbridge.co.za

 

Hanna Kotze: Organisational Culture Consultant, Clinical Social Worker and Trauma Counselling

Mobile Number: 084 341 0059

Email Address: hanna@hannakotze.co.za

Saluting Women Firefighters at Garden Route District Municipality

Garden Route District Municipality is home to seven (7) Women Firefighters, who form part of a group of 40 Firefighters (including station officers and fire chief). Although being underrepresented in a male-dominated environment, they are a force to reckon with.

Structural and cultural factors have a definite influence on the disproportionately low representation of women in firefighting. Such factors often play a role in making the career-choice seem inhospitable to women. Despite this, a “conscious and continuous” attempt by educators, firefighters and parents can help expose youngsters, especially women, to the profession.

INTERVIEW WITH WOMEN FIREFIGHTERS AT GRDM

During an interview with six of the seven women Firefighters at GRDM, who include Ms Bonita Conrad, Ms Kuthala Maki, Ms Odri-Anne Booysen, Ms Devonia Cupido, Ms Elana Basson and Ms Michelle Smalberger, a few assumptions were presented to them.

Assumption 1: Women have to first showcase their knowledge and experience in firefighting before being accepted by their male counterparts.

  • All women firefighters felt that this was true.

 Assumption 2: There is a sense of pressure on women to do the same or even better than their male counterparts.

  • Interviewees felt the assumption was correct, but despite this, acknowledged that they do not feel that they are treated unequally to their counterparts at GRDM.

When asked what the most important parts of their firefighting jobs are, they agreed that “protecting lives, infrastructure and the environment,” are at the top of their list of reasons.

Near the end of the interview, a question was asked with the intent of making women firefighters think about their worth and potential. “Would you consider fighting in an all-women team?” One firefighter responded by saying – “we need men by our side to fight fires”. Moments later, one firefighter challenged this response and said: “We will be able to fight a fire on our own. Why are we doubting our own capabilities?” With this moment of truth, interviewees had a moment to think deeply about these misperceptions.

Now the question is why did these powerful women for a moment think that they wouldn’t be able to face a fire as an all-women team? Is it a cultural phenomenon? Something we see on television, hear on the radio or read about in newspapers? What really shapes this perception? This is one of the many questions we have to ask ourselves to break the glass ceiling.

One of the Senior Firefighters, Ms Bonita Conrad, twice over the past few years came out at the top of her age group at the South African Toughest Firefighter Alive Competition.

Six (6) of the seven (7) women firefighters at Garden Route District Municipality, front (fltr): Ms Odri-Anne Booysen and Ms Michelle Smalberger. Back (fltr): Ms Elana Basson, Ms Kuthala Maki, Ms Devonia Cupido and Ms Bonita Conrad.

THE DISTRICT WAS FIRST IN WESTERN CAPE TO APPOINT A WOMAN FIRE CHIEF

GRDM has also been dedicated to gender-transformation in firefighting for more than a decade. The District Municipality, in 2006, was the first to appoint a woman Fire Chief in the Western Cape – Ms Annelise Lamprecht-Virtue. She is truly a trailblazer in the field of firefighting. During the October 2018 Garden Route fires  Western Cape Government tasked Annelise to assist the district and local municipalities in providing strategic leadership. Her tenure at Western Cape Government as the Assistant Director: Fire and Rescue Services, started in January 2012. Annelise confirmed during a telephonic interview that she will take up a position as Fire Chief at Witzenberg Municipality on 1 September 2019.

Garden Route District Municipality wishes Ms Lamprecht-Virtue all of the best with her future endeavours.

 

Wildfire in Ruitersbos, Mossel Bay

Garden Route Wildfire Update, Ruitersbos 2019/05/14 @ 13:45

Ruiterbos Wildfire Extinguished

Garden Route District Municipality’s fire fighters have departed from the Ruitersbos area. Cape Nature and Witfontein Working on Fire crew members will continue with mopping-up operations and will monitor the area for any flare-ups.

————————————————————

Garden Route Fire Update, Ruitersbos 2019/05/14 @ 11:00

Affected area stretching over approximately 6 hectares. The wildfire is reported to be under control and not posing a threat to life or infrastructure.

Role players / teams on the scene:
Garden Route DM
Mossel Bay Municipality
Cape Nature

————————————————————

Garden Route Fire Update, Ruitersbos 2019/05/14 @ 10:00

Mossel Bay Fire Services requested assistance from Garden Route District Municipality Fire Services.

Initial Response:
5 Crew
1 Skid Unit
1 Medium Pumper

Issued by Garden Route DM

#GardenRouteFire
#RuitersbosFire
#MosselBayFire

More updates will be posted to our social media page: www.facebook.com/gardenroutedm

Garden Route District Municipality wins the IFFD Challenge

It was once again a glorious occasion for the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Fire Fighters, when they walked away in victory after winning the International Fire Fighters Day (IFFD) Challenge the past weekend. Overstrand Municipality ended up in the second place and Overberg District Municipality third.

Municipal Manager of Garden Route District Municipality, Mr Monde Stratu, shared a special moment with the team to congratulate them personally. FLTR: Mr Emile Conrad (left), Mr Hein Leslie (2nd left), Mr Armien Bailey (2nd right) and Mr Edwin Lottering (right). Mr Bennie van Vuuren could not be present during the photograph session.

The competition took place in Stellenbosch from 3 to 5 May 2019 and was hosted by the Stellenbosch Municipality at “Die Braak.  This main purpose of the event was to acknowledge the significance of firefighters in the Western Cape Province and it also placed emphasis on the remembrance of fire fighters who lost their lives in the line of duty.

After the Communication Unit of GRDM spoke to the firefighters about their preparation for the competition, it became evident that no competition-focused practice sessions took place prior to the event, as all firefighters have to be fit at all time, to effectively perform their duties on a daily basis.

Mr Emile Conrad, captain of the crew (left), Municipal Manager of Garden Route District Municipality, Mr Monde Stratu (middle), and Mr Hein Leslie, Leader of the Garden Route District Municipality team (right).

A team member who participates in competitions of this standard must show outstanding skills such as endurance, determination, to be focused and to have consistent strength.  Participants resembled all these characteristics throughout the six challenges. The format of the event also included a parade through the streets, a ceremony to honor the lives of the fire fighters who passed away in their line of duty and squad drilling to depict the importance of the firefighters in society. Approximately 1500 people attended the event.

Senior Fire fighter, Mr Emile Conrad, is well-known for being the South African Toughest Fire fighter Alive and for his top performance at the all related competitions. For Senior Fire fighter, Mr Edwin Lottering, it was his nineth year of participation in competitions of this nature and therefore his skills and previous experience contributed greatly to their success. For Mr Hein Leslie (team leader), it was a third experience, for Mr Bennie van Vuuren’s, a third and for Mr Armien Bailey a second.  The skill and knowledge of these participants, as well as their level of commitment and strength complemented each other to be able to achieve the outcome of their participation.

When sharing their overall experience of the competition, Mr Conrad said that he drew inspiration from how all firefighters came together to unite for one purpose, but also from seeing how firefighters which are already known to one another due to past competition participation, encouraged and motivated each other.  On the other hand, Mr Bailey highlighted:  “Seeing that I grew up in Stellenbosch, it was a privilege for me to notice that the residents from my home town saw the progress in me as firefighter, as all challenges were firefighting-related – it was indeed encouraging and it kept me going”.

The Garden District Municipality council, management and staff extended messages to the participants before, throughout and after the competition, to share their support with the team members.  Congratulations once again to Heinrich Leslie as team leader, Emile Conrad (crew captain), Edwin Lottering, Armien Bailey and Bennie van Vuuren for making the entire Garden Route district proud!

The South African Toughest Fire Fighter Alive competition is expected to take place in Cape Town from 20 to 21 September 2019 and the GRDM team, if considered, is ready to participate in the competition.

Annual Fire Commemoration event to look at climate change 

The Annual Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) event, to be hosted on 7 June to mark the devastating wildfire that ravaged the town and surrounds of Knysna in 2017, will broaden its scope in order to also look at the effects of climate change in the region,” says Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Municipal Manager, Mr Monde Stratu.

Continues Stratu, “Not only the Knysna wildfire disaster, but also regional wildfire disasters before and after the dramatic 7 June 2017 event, hint at a vulnerable environment grappling to deal with a change in climate, and  a region exposed to risks associated with drought, wildfire and a constant loss of biodiversity and natural habitat”.

“What we want to achieve is to support and promote efforts for a better prepared, more resilient and climate-ready Southern Cape and Garden Route,” concludes Stratu.

Burnt landscape 2 Natural Disasters indicate that the effects of climate change are real and likely to increase.

Says Cobus Meiring on behalf of the GREF Secretariat, “Natural disasters on an unprecedented scale, such as the Outeniqua fires and the more recent tropical cyclone Idai, raising havoc in the city of Beira in bordering Mozambique, must serve as a clarion call for communities and authorities alike, that climate change is real and no-one is immune to its effects”.

According to Meiring vulnerable communities, such as those living in the Great and Klein Karoo continue to suffer the long-term knock-on effect of extended periods of drought, with farmers abandoning their operations, leaving reliant communities destitute.

More detail on the commemoration event will be made available in due course on the GREF website: www.scli.org.za/gref.

Photo caption: Natural disasters such as the 2017 Knysna fires, perpetual drought in the Klein and Great Karoo, and the more recent cyclone Idai in bordering Mozambique are indicators that the effects of climate change are real and likely to increase, and the Garden Route must plan for survival.

* The intense tropical cyclone Idai was one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, leaving more than 1000 people dead and thousands more missing. Idai is the second-deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean basin, behind only the 1892 Mauritius cyclone. In the Southern Hemisphere, it currently ranks as the third-deadliest tropical cyclone on record, behind the aforementioned 1892 Mauritius cyclone and the 1973 Flores cyclone. (Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Idai)

** The Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) is a regional forum for collaboration in conservation, environmental adaptation and community interaction. The forum aims to coordinate regional conservation efforts, serve as a catalyst to drive climate adaption practices in the Southern Cape and strive to establish a better-coordinated approach to environmental management.

WEBSITE: http://www.scli.org.za/gref

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MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Cobus Meiring: Cobus Meiring: Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) Secretariat

Cell: 083 626 7619

Email: cobus@naturalbridge.co.za

Forum to commemorate the Knysna fires of 7 June 2017

“The Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), incorporating the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF), is looking at the establishment of an annual commemoration event for the 2017 Knysna fires. The forum is currently planning to host a seminar on Friday June 7 to review the environmental preparedness of the Southern Cape regarding risks associated with fire and drought,” says Nina Viljoen, Manager: Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation at the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) and a spokesperson for the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF).

The countryside near Vermaaklikheid resembled a lunar landscape following the devastating wildfire in 2018. The recovery of vegetation in the Southern Cape – following the devastation of some 100 000 hectares in 2018 – is a matter of concern where black wattle and other invasive alien plants are making an unwelcome appearance on the landscape.

“Much has happened in terms of regional disaster prevention and management since the widespread destruction caused by the 2017 Knysna and Plettenberg Bay fires, not to mention the 2018 devastation of some 100 000 hectares along the Outeniqua Mountains, Still Bay and Vermaaklikheid, claiming still more lives and causing untold damage to the regional economy,” says Viljoen.

At a recent workshop hosted at the Nelson Mandela University’s (NMU) Saasveld Campus, options were discussed to generate funds sufficient to address and reduce risks associated with invasive alien biomass in the Southern Cape landscape. In dealing with the aftermath of the respective fire disasters, the Executive Mayor of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), Councillor Memory Booysen, was quoted as suggesting a tax on landowners to generate funds for invasive alien plant biomass reduction on the landscape. This was merely a discussion point and what was meant by his point-of-view was that we should be open for a debate on how we, as a collective, can become more prepared for future disasters.

Booysen pointed out that there was general agreement that much more must be done by both landowners and authorities to reduce risks if we were to safeguard the region from a recurrence of the 2017 and 2018 fires.

Fire-risk reduction is but one of several environmental matters hitting the GREF spotlight

The proposed 7 June Fire Commemoration seminar will look at the overarching research and strategy development that has taken place over the past two years regarding environmental risk reduction in the region, and the physical measures that have been implemented. The seminar will also provide a roadmap of what is planned for the region in the coming months.

Further announcements on the seminar will be made in due course and information will be published on the GREF website: https://www.scli.org.za/GREF/ closer to the event.

** The Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) is a regional forum for collaboration in conservation, environmental adaptation and community interaction. The forum aims to coordinate regional conservation efforts, serve as a catalyst to drive climate adaption practices in the Southern Cape and strive to establish a better-coordinated approach to environmental management.