Devastating fires in the Western Cape are burning holes in South African taxpayers’ pockets, with the initial cost of battling the blaze already running into the millions.
But, according to government fire-fighting agency Working on Fire, the exact cost of fighting the fires and the damage they have caused has yet to be determined.
”Unlike its northerly neighbours in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, where fires are fuelled by huge commercial plantations, most of the Western Cape’s fires occur in natural areas,” Working on Fire spokesperson Evelyn Holtzhausen said.
”Commercial plantation farmers [in the north] invest substantially in fire-protection measures, through the development of firebreaks, deployment of fire-fighting teams and the purchase of fire-fighting equipment. In natural areas in the Western Cape there is no such investment.”
He said that while the plantations are covered by insurance, which pays for damage and the cost of fighting fires, the Western Cape relies on state funding.
”The Western Cape does not have insurance. So, who is going to pay for the helicopters, the planes and the human resources to contain a fire such as that in Franschhoek? The taxpayers, of course.” The cost of keeping a helicopter in the air is about R23 000 an hour.
The Western Cape is in the midst of its annual fire season, which began earlier than usual this summer, most likely as a result of the severe drought in the province.
Val Charlton, coordinator of Working on Fire, said: ”In a meeting with the city of Cape Town at the end of last year, they reported that 150 fires a day would be burning inside the municipality. But only a few of these would result in an inferno.”
She said dry vegetation and hot conditions are prime conditions for sparking a fire, but in most cases it is human negligence that causes a blaze.
Children are suspected of starting the fire at Bainskloof, while a Wemmerhoek blaze was started in an informal settlement. Another fire was started when someone burned rubbish. Cape officials also suspect that cigarette butts thrown from car windows could be responsible for some of the blazes.
Contrary to reports in a Sunday newspaper last weekend, no one has been arrested for starting the Franschhoek fire. And although Cape-Nature officials had made several complaints of arson to the police, and charges are being investigated, no arrests had been made.
About 300 fire fighters were deployed in the area this week, and although little agricultural damage was reported, CapeNature officials fear that as much as 32 000ha of fynbos was destroyed. Some plant species could suffer irreparably, they said.
Zane Erasmus, CapeNature’s fire programme manager, said people do not understand the monetary value associated with fynbos.
Erasmus said the true impact of the fire on the Cape’s floral kingdom would only be assessed in three to four years’ time.
Fires also flared this week:
- in the Overberg district near Hermanus, where one was contained and another is still burning;
- in the Arabella Estate it continues to smoulder, but is being monitored;
- in Rawsonville, near Worcester where a new veld fire was reported;
- in Simonsberg, where a veld fire started on Wednesday afternoon in a plot of eucalyptus trees. Air force and Working on Fire helicopters were used to waterbomb the blaze;
- in Pniel, where a fixed-wing aircraft was deployed to battle a blaze. The fire is now contained, but at one stage the N1 had to be closed because of dangerous smoke levels; and
- in Franschhoek, Du Toits Kloof, Donkerhoek and Assegaaibos. The fires are under control but there are fears that they might flare up again.
One of the worst fires this season was a blaze that raged near Piketberg for 28 days from November 15.
The fires are never extinguished, Charlton warned. Even if one is contained, it often smoulders in mountainous areas, as was the case in Franschhoek.
”If the right weather conditions persist, it can easily start up again.”