WoF press
Working on Fire
Press Release
1 September 2008
published by Working on Fire Programme
South Africa — Veld fire situational report as at 14h00 1/9/08
NB. This reflects only the incidents that are known to Working on Fire and is not a complete overview of the country sitrep.
Injuries : Mpumalanga 23 burn wounds, mostly civilians, no WOF personnel.
Deaths : Mpumalanga 3 [ unconfirmed] civilians
Deaths : KZN 8 .- 7 civilians and 1 non WoF bomber pilot.
Mpumalanga: 14 new fires today.
KZN : 3 new fires today
No incoming info from other areas at this stage. Some cooling along the Zululand coast at Richards Bay.
Weather forecast : From Bloemfontein across to KZN/ Eastern Cape and northwards, the forecast is for Yellow/ Orange from tomorrow through to Saturday across the entire region. By Saturday Danger Index will move back up to Orange /Red. Currently, due to strong winds, some aerial operations are suspended. Caution should be taken when driving bad visibility, debris on the roads, strong winds.
Total fires since the start of the weekend and estimated damages:
41 KZN 10,000 HA damaged
49 Mpumalanga 22,000 HA burnt of which 13,000HA is forestry
11 Free State 26,000 HA mostly grazing. Undetermined number of stock.
5 Gauteng – ? HA damaged.
1 EC – [ Langeni 3 days and ongoing in Timber 2000HA lost]
1 NW – SAPS training centre at Thabazimbi. NDMC assisting with Oryx.
14 Limpopo – 1000HA lost
Sawmills damaged/ destroyed.
2 MPU Piet Retief sawmill plus 10,000tons stacked timber,
Nelspruit Sawmill.
1 Limpopo Tzaneen.
Threatened – 4 sawmills at Louis Trichardt unconfirmed damage.
Damages KZN [ Unconfirmed] 30-40 rural settlement homes near Dargle, Racehorses/ Stables,
I house at Drakensberg Sun Hotel.
Livestock unestimated at this stage.
Working on Fire Firefighting Crews deployed at firelines:
13 crews Mpumalanga
3 crews Limpopo
4 crews Gauteng
13 crews KZN
3 crews EC.
Val Charlton
Advocacy Manager
Working on Fire
