Farmer burnt as veldfires rage
Farmer burnt as veldfires rage
25 September 2005
published by www.news24.com
Johannesburg – A farmer was burnt on his hands and face when a fire broke out in the Rosendal and Paul Roos area of the eastern Free State on Saturday, the Working on Fire Programme (WFP) said.
The WFP, an initiative of two government departments and commercial forestry, said the fire damaged between 10 000 and 12 000ha of land, mostly grazing land.
“This will have increased substantially during the night,” said Val Charlton, the WFP’s advocacy co-ordinator.
She said more fire crews from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal arrived on Sunday to relieve a tired crew that had been working for the entire Saturday night.
The fire, which is continuing to burn along a 45km front, has not been extinguished, she said.
Nine new fires were burning out of control in the Zululand area of KwaZulu-Natal, causing damage to forestry and sugar cane farming region.
“A fire in Mbazwane, northern Zululand, reignited after being contained on Friday.
In Mpumalanga/Limpopo, four fires are burning in the Nelspruit dispatch area with another two fires in Warberton’s area and one in the Piet Retief area,” Charltonsaid.
