Local Heroes making a difference
Thabazimbi – Local community members and the 10 active volunteers of Thaba Fire and Rescue [non-profit organisation] are always willing to assist when a fire breaks out.
When a scorching heatwave and fierce fires raged across Free State on Monday 19 October, the team just knew that they had to go and assist.
After speaking to the incident commander in Boshoff who said that they would appreciate any assistance, they left Thabazimbi around 22:00 and arrived in Boshoff around 06:00 on Wednesday morning.
After the long journey, they unpacked their belongings and headed to the incident control post (ICP) where they met up with the people from Working on Fire. The fire was relatively under control, so they spent the day in the ICP where they prepared and planned for the tasks ahead.
“We were informed of spotter planes in the air and two 8805 planes – referred to as ‘bombers’. They are equipped to spray water on the fire that assist firefighters in their efforts.” Dinare Security owner and Thaba Fire and Rescue member and Kobus Malan said in an interview with Platinum Bushvelder.
Ten minutes after they arrived at the control point on Thursday, the wind picked up and the fire started spreading – again. The team rushed to offer their support and acted as incident commanders with Working on Fire. With the assistance of a spotter plane, they were tasked to give through information about what was happening on the ground.
After a while, they noticed that the fire was getting out of control and the aid of the bomber planes was called in. The bombers did about 27 rounds carrying 3,000l of water with each flight. “We estimate that almost 81,000l of water was dispersed," Kobus said.
The fire was brought relatively under control, but because of the vast area that was burning and strong winds blowing [30-50km per hour], it was impossible to completely extinguish the fire. At this wind speed, the fire was spreading at approximately 60km per hour. The constant change of wind rendered all attempts of burning fire breaks useless. They were fighting the fire until about 03:00 on Friday.
By 06:00 on Friday, they headed back to the control post. Not long after their arrival, they received word that the fire started spreading again. They then went out to Hertzogville which is about 60km from Boshoff. Bombers were once again called in.
After the bombers dropped the water, the team went in to help extinguish the fire. They assisted everywhere they possibly could and managed to save a few lions on a nearby farm as well as other animals on nearby game farms. Unfortunately, numerous animals either burned to death or sustained very serious injuries and had to be euthanised.
Later the same day, when they returned to the control point in Boshoff they were informed that another fire broke out near Kimberly. They packed up their gear and travelled the 60km to Kimberly to help. There they had to fight fires all through the night.
On Saturday they rested for a while before fixing the damage to their vehicles and equipment – caused by the fire. Three of the eight flat tires they had, were damaged beyond repair. These vehicles and firefighting equipment must be in peak condition to ensure that you don’t get stuck while out in the field. Luckily, the winds quieted down by the time they reached the control point which gave Working on Fire an opportunity to do proper mop ups to prevent the fire from spreading again.
The team finally headed home, arriving back in Thabazimbi at 23:00 on Saturday, with just enough time for a short rest before returning to work again on Monday.
A big thank you to this team for their selflessness, helping when they see a need – without hesitation.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Free State farmers who suffered huge losses in the devastating fires.