Knysna: more devastating fires inevitable
Country urged to mitigate potential risks
MORE large, destructive fires are inevitable in the future for South Africa, according to a report on one of the most destructive fires in the country’s history.
The report into the devastating fires that struck the Knysna area in June 2017, was released yesterday, and showed the risk of so-called ‘mega-fires’ recurring in South Africa remained high.
The fire in 2017 raged for more than a week, killing seven people and causing R2 biliion in damage.
The report made a number of recommendations for the government, communities, and the insurance industry to minimise the risk of future ‘mega-fires’ – and the remedial steps to be taken to reduce the social and financial impact of such disasters.
Insurance company Santam commissioned the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Research Alliance for Disaster and Risk Reduction (RADAR) and the Fire Engineering Research Unit (FireSUN) at Stellenbosch University to conduct research into the cause of the inferno. “The research showed that these mega-fires will recur in South Africa moving forward and we want to use this as a learning curve.
“We want to partner with the government and other stakeholders to reduce the impact of this catastrophic disaster and the social and financial impact on the lives of South Africans,” Santum head of stakeholder relations John Lomberg said. Among the key recommendations outlined in the report was the necessity for government to better manage and control fuel loads on municipal land – especially along wildland-urban-interfaces.
FireSUN head Richard Walls said homeowners could play a role by ensuring that homes were cleared of combustible material. “In this one there were many factors, like weather conditions that pushed it quickly and that made it hard to respond to the high concentration of wealthy homes.
“There was not one ignition source, there were multiple, and saw fires coming together and ending in enormous disaster. There is a lot of things that you can control, as a homeowner, like ensuring that your house is clear of combustible material and looking at construction material used that can reduce a fire. When we analysed the fire, we found that 74% of the home had vegetation around the home that was combustible,” Walls said.
Greg Forsyth, CSIR researcher, said communities could join organisations like the local Fire Protection Association and work together with authorities in preventing a similar fire.
“It is a good vehicle to get multiple stakeholders together to find mitigation or risk reduction activities.
“It really is a thing of people living in environment partnering to creating a more resilient environment,” Forsyth said.