The second annual Wildfire Expo for Central South Africa - 3 to 4 May 2024

The second annual Wildfire Expo for Central South Africa 3 to 4 May 2024

By Johann (Savage) Breytenbach, general manager, Free State Umbrella Fire protection Association

The central part of South Africa consists of the Free State and Northern Cape Provinces, at 502 714 km2, it is a considerable chunk of the country. The very rural region is primarily used for agriculture but infrequent mines create dots of activity throughout the sparsely populated landscape. The Northern Cape has the lowest and the Free State the second lowest population density in the country with the majority of people residing in rural villages and towns of various sizes with limited “large population centres.”

This remarkably diverse but arid portion of Southern Africa, like the rest of the world, is facing the impacts of climate change manifesting through increased wildfire frequency, intensity and impact. Although the higher rainfall areas of the Free State grasslands in the east is no stranger to wildfires the region as a whole is experiencing increased incident frequency with a very definite westerly spread into historically lower risk areas. The occurrence of multiple mega fires during a fire season has become a certainty over the last four years. The need to adapt to this new reality has never been greater.

The purpose of the Wildfire Expo was to sensitise a broad audience on the ever-increasing veldfire risks within the central parts of South Africa, to introduce integrated fire management concepts and promote proactive wildfire risk management solutions. This was done by providing access to products, services and information delivered in presentations, demonstrations and displays.

The programme stretched over two days and included a varied set of subjects presented by extraordinary people with diverse backgrounds, skills and years of experience. Together they brought a wealth of information that provided layer on layer of relevant and important information to central South Africans.

The Working on Fire (WoF)Kishugu-Joint Venture (JV) suite of presentations provided valuable information and solutions on a broad range of topics. Linton Rensburg, head of communications for Working on Fire, kicked off proceedings by addressing the topic of climate change and the need to adapt in a presentation entitled “Climate change and wildfires: key challenges, policy and operational responses. South Africa's preparedness for future wildfires.”

Frank Smook, operations manager Kishugu Aviation, delivered a presentation titled “Aerial firefighting as a critical component of early initial attack”. The subject was not only fascinating and informative but Franks’ years of experience was put on full display to the benefit of the audience.

Coenie Lamprecht, CEO at Kishugu Fleet Solutions, provided excellent insight into the art of effective resource management through the application of advanced technology in vehicles and for drivers. His presentation titled, “Fleet management as a key component of integrated fire management” also delved into the complexities and challenges of vehicle provision for the WoF programme.

The last presentation from the WoF-Kishugu-JV suite was made by Tony Mancos, CEO of the Kishugu Training Academy. The critical importance of equipping firefighters and management to face the increased challenges brought about by climate change in the wildfire management space was emphasised. The need for succession planning and organisational capacity building trough training was highlighted in a presentation titled, “Wildfire training for management and firefighters.”

The Nelson Mandela University School of Natural Resource Management, Veldfire Management, was a very welcome contributor, with the well-known HoD, Tiaan Pool, who brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to bear in his presentation titled, “Integrated veldfire management within agri communities: Is there a need to adapt veldfire management practices within agri communities?” This is a key issue within Central South Africa and Tiaan provided excellent insight and background information that produced a clear answer: Yes there is an urgent need to implement integrated veldfire management within agri communities.

Hannes van Zyl, also from the same department at Nelson Mandela University, had to answer a sticky question with his topic titled, “The viability of community based wildfire management: Is community-based wildfire management a sustainable and realistic approach to increased wildfire risk?” Hannes provided an in-depth background on the topic and the very informed conclusion was: Pure community-based fire management is not the solution Central South Africa needs; the need is to focus on proper Integrated Fire Management with a strong sense of “community” as a driver for change. This requires the expansion of the definition of community to include other stakeholders as much as possible. An integrated approach will ensure all stakeholders are empowered, thus ensuring the collective risk is minimised, unity is strength, a basic Ubuntu principle.

We were honoured to have Louise Wessels, manager of the Greater Overberg Fire Protection Association (GOFPA) provide us with insight into how GOFPA became a highly functional FPA within an agri-based community. Her presentation, “Analysis of a fire protection association: Greater Overberg FPA, what makes it work?” provided extremely valuable information and reiterated the fact that proper implementation of Integrated Fire Management is a sustainable solution. This requires the community to trust the FPA and in order to gain that trust the FPA must ensure that all stakeholders are included and empowered. Louise and GOFPA set a benchmark for agri-based fire protection associations.

Prof Theo Venter of the University of Johannesburg, is a well-known and respected analyst and deeply involved with policy development. His presentation entitled “Impacts of wildfires on agriculture and agri communities: It cannot be business as usual.” Was refreshing and thought provoking. Wildfire management takes place within a greater socioeconomic and sociopolitical environment, in South Africa this is a VUCA environment: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity. There are nine requirements to manage a VUCA environment and confronting our biases is key to outsmarting VUCA. Effectively managing a VUCA environment will change Volatility into Vision, Uncertainty into Understanding, Complexity into Clarity, and Ambiguity into Adaptibility. Successful wildfire management requires management of the VUCA environment.

Emile Pretorius, business development manager at Santam Agri, brought much-needed perspective from an often overlooked but crucial stakeholder, the insurance industry. His presentation, “Know your fire: agri insurance and veldfire risk management”, provided a serious and sobering look at the financial risks associated with wildfires, the cost of insuring the risks and the importance of a fire protection association in the risks management chain.

Julius Fleischman of the College of Emergency Care and World Rescue Organisation, is highly respected as an incident commander, particularly at mass casualty and complex incidents and he has a wealth of national and international experience. His presentation, “Critical elements of effective incident management: Effective incident response and management is not accidental, international norms and standards must apply”, highlighted the importance of FPAs obtaining and apply ICS principles. Additionally, FPAs must interact with other services and agencies to gain an understanding of their protocols and procedures and transfer that knowledge to their members. It is important to that landowners understand they can be held accountable for their actions and conduct when engaging in wildfire suppression.

Braam Korf from the volunteer organisation Search and Rescue South Africa (SARZA) Free State region closed off with a harsh reality in Central South Africa. His presentation, “Don’t worry, it’s just a grassfire: veldfire related burn injuries and the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE)”, was a reality check for landowners who habitually engage in wildfire suppression without PPE or PPC.

The excellent presentations were augmented by various demonstrations that included firefighting techniques and equipment; the highlight was the WoF and Kishugu Aviation demonstration of aerial support provision to ground teams, as always, a crowd pleaser.

The products and services on display from the exhibitors provided additional points of contact where knowledge and information were shared. The collective knowledge, expertise and experience that was made available at the Wildfire Expo was extraordinary for Central South Africa, it changed perceptions, increased understanding, created networking opportunities and fostered relationships. We are grateful for all who got involved. Thank you all, objectives achieved.