With the fire season upon us, Mr Fulufhelo Hendrik Sibara, the senior divisional officer of the fire and rescue services of the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) is urging community members to do their best to prevent runaway fires.
Sibara addressed the representatives of community structures and stakeholders, members of ward committees and government communicators during the VDM's communicators forum session, held at the Malamulele Community Hall on Friday, 2 September.
Sibara said that, although natural fires (brought on by lightning, for example) were unavoidable, man-made fires should be prevented at all costs. "We must teach our children from a young age that fire is very dangerous. A single match can destroy acres of land and property worth billions of rands, and even lead to the death of thousands of people. All of us must learn to respect fire. It can be destructive, especially when people handle it with negligence."
Sibara said his firefighting team was worried about the number of veld fires that occurred around the Vhembe region each year. "One of the most common causes of veld fires is people throwing burning cigarette butts into the bushes. Besides destroying vegetation, these veld fires also kill innocent creatures and insects whose habitat is the veld. We also want to send a strong warning out to smokers not to smoke in bed. There have been many instances where people had fallen asleep with lit cigarettes, which led to their houses' burning down and lost lives," he said.
He encouraged the public to join hands with their local firefighters to avoid fire-related tragedies. "All areas must have a fire prevention association that will work closely with us to minimise fire outbreaks. People should also be made aware of how dangerous fire is through awareness campaigns, and trained to be prepared when any type of fire breaks out in their vicinity," he said.