EMA issues fire risk warning

Anesu Kurebwaseka Mutare Bureau
Manicaland province faces a high risk of veld fires this season, as there are great fuel loads of dead vegetation around most districts that can easily ignite fires, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has warned. In an interview with The Herald, Manicaland EMA provincial environment manager, Mr Kingstone Chitotombe, said people should be warned and be prepared during this hot season because veld fires were likely to occur at a great rate.

There was need for precautionary measures to prevent damage from the fires, he said.

“It has been detected that the province will experience a high prevalence of veld fires this season and there is need for people to be warned about such a possibility because not only are people at risk, but the forests, property and animals, both domestic and wild, too,” said Mr Chitotombe.

“As EMA, it is our duty to warn people about these developments and also give them advice on how to deal with veld fires. People should avoid using fire for hunting, throwing away burnt cigarettes, starting fires on waste dumps, for this will highly ignite veld fires.”

Mr Chitotombe said EMA had gone into communities to educate them on preventive measures they needed to know in case of fire outbreaks.

These include the use of fire guards, grass combing, hay bailing and use of fire fighting teams.

“There is great need to reduce deaths caused by veld fires to zero and this can only happen when EMA and the community work together to stop the spread of veld fires,” said Mr Chitotombe.

In recent years, Manicaland province has been ranked among the worst hit by veld fires.

Two deaths were reported in Chimanimani and another three in Charter Forest in 2015, giving a total of five in a period of one week, all in the month of October of that year.

Research has shown that children from ages of between two and five and elders above 70 years were more likely to be vulnerable to veld fires.

In former commercial farming areas that have now been converted into A2 farms, the risks of veld fires are very high owing to the absence of fireguards.

Mutare, Chipinge, Makoni and Chimanimani districts are among the most high risk areas.