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Burning fire
The Lowveld and Escarpment Fire Protection Association (LEFPA) in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, says the veld fires in Sabie have now been contained. This follows a two-day operation by firefighters to extinguish the fires that broke out on the plantation near the R536 road between Sabie and Hazyview on Saturday.
LEFPA General Manager, Andre Scheepers, says they will monitor the situation closely in case of any flare-ups.
“From today onwards, we will be monitoring the situation as well as doing mopping up because certain areas still has a couple of spots around and we urge all the people out there to please be vigilant as the South African Weather Services still predict hot and dry windy conditions for most of the weekm: says Scheepers.
Meanwhile, the South African Forestry Company Limited (Safcol), which owns the portion on the gum and pine plantation which were razed by the fire in Sabie, is currently assessing the damage.
Safcol’s Senior Manager for Communication and Marketing, Nokuthula Makaringa, says so far they are not certain about what might have cause the fire.
“So far, we are not able to say certainly what might have caused the fire. However, we are thinking the fire might have broken from around the industrial area in the Sabie area. As Safcol, the damage that we are estimating at the moment is about one hectare on the land that we are operating on. However, the extent of the damage we still need to do further damage as to how many trees have actually been damaged,” says Makaringa.
