Bay’s baptism of fire
Services stretched to the limit as 348 blazes wreak havoc over two-week period
An alarming 348 fires raged across Nelson Mandela Bay within a span of 13 days and those on the frontline believe most were started deliberately.
Meanwhile, understaffed and equipment-strapped firefighters say they are buckling under the pressure.
Of the total number of fires reported, 272 were veld fires many of which were allegedly purposefully ignited.
The fires forming part of the statistics occurred between February 26 and March 10, wreaking havoc in the less than two-week period.
According to an official report, the recent fires in Sardinia Bay, Sappershoek, Schoenmakerskop, the Baywest area, Sherwood and Summerstrand proved the most challenging for the metro’s firefighting teams.
All nine fire stations in the metro had responded to the fires which posed a serious risk to dwellings and resulted in a significant loss of small wildlife.
Five pet dogs died when a fire reached the Sardinia Bay pump station.
Antelope carcasses were also found.
The statistics, seen by The Herald, were confirmed by municipal acting senior director for fire and emergency services Hendrik McLeod.
“The statistics paint an alarming picture of what is happening in the Bay,” McLeod said.
“During the period noted, we have had 15 building fires, 18 at informal dwellings, 20 electrical fires, 13 which started after rubbish was set alight, six fires to transportation and 272 veld fires.
“These fires did not start by themselves and they did not just start spontaneously.
“The probe is still ongoing so we can’t divulge more at this stage,” he said.
Insiders revealed that the fire department was buckling under pressure due to a severe shortage of firefighters, fire engines and other vital resources.
“Currently we only have a staff complement of 243, including 45 firefighters on duty at all nine stations for immediate response,” one official said, declining to be named.
“This is way below the required threshold.
“We only have six water tankers, 13 off-road appliances, 19 rescue pumps, two hydraulic platforms and six hazmat appliances without the reserves.
“We also have a diving unit, foam tender [a fire appliance used to extinguish flammable liquids], and our own mobile fuel trailer to dispense fuel to the units during emergencies.”
The official said to mitigate the understaffing issue, 33 new firefighting recruits had been appointed to start at the end of this month.
McLeod confirmed this. “Obviously, we are trying everything in our power to serve the community to the best of our ability,” he said.
“We will release a public
communique about the new appointments very soon.”
Bay political head for safety and security Stag Mitchell was also of the view the fires had been started intentionally.
“That is the only reasonable explanation,” Mitchell said.
“The arsonists are trying to undermine the good work the municipality is doing by starting fires everywhere and that puts us under a lot of pressure.
“We will not tolerate this and we are considering opening cases with the police.”
The DA’s Gustav Rautenbach said the party had been informed that the bushfires were intentionally started.
“How is it possible that more than one bush fire starts at the same time but at different locations in the metro?
“It is clear these fires are well-planned and are started deliberately.”
Rautenbach called for the alleged arsonists to be brought to book and for the fire department to report a case of arson with the police.
“The DA will continue to fight for our fire department, and I will continue to address these issues at safety and security portfolio committee meetings,” he said.
“We also wish to thank our brave, hardworking and dedicated firefighters for working day and night to fight bushfires over the last couple of weeks.
“Their work did not go unnoticed.
“We also wish to thank the public who assisted our firefighters with water, eyedrops and food over this period.”
ActionSA’s Athol Trollip said it was difficult to conclusively say that the fires had been started by arsonists.
“Remember that it has been the driest, and certainly one of the windiest, Februaries in almost a century, so the conditions for veld fires are very conducive,” he said.
“However, the number of growing informal settlements and bush dwellers, especially along the coast, provides a very high risk for fire.”
Dr Kevin Winter of the Future Water Institute at the University of Cape Town said climate change played a big role in the increase in fires.
“I think there is no doubt that if we look at climate change models and what they’re presenting world wide, we will see many more fires that have been started, and not necessarily intentionally,” Winter said.
“This is what the climate models warned us about almost 25 years ago because of extreme temperatures.”
He said tinder-dry material was a recipe for this.
“The Canadians are experiencing this. And, for example, in SA a place like the Western Cape is the most vulnerable.
“Open lands also need to burn from time to time for reproduction rates to repopulate the area and for more natural vegetation to grow in the area.
“What it does do is dry the land up when it is exposed like that, so I guess there is a loss of water through evaporation.
“And in general, this may affect the groundwater quality.”
Energy and climate change expert Nick Hedley said: “We can’t attribute these fires to climate change or El Nino because we’re not sure what started them and whether arson was involved.
“However, the dry conditions in the Eastern Cape do make wildfires more likely to happen in the first place, and make them spread faster.
“Climate models show the Eastern Cape will become drier and more prone to wildfires over time, so unfortunately we can expect more of this.”