A little common sense
Philip Prins, Fire and Technical Services Manager of the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP), says: “There’s a lot you can do as a homeowner to protect your property – much of it is straightforward. Some of the houses lost in the Red Hill/Scarborough fires last season might have been saved if residents had used a bit of common sense.

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"The stone house on the coast road, for example, had a thatched roof and timber stacked nearby – which are clearly inadvisable for a fire-prone, peri-urban area.”

The "stone house" burning in the Scarborough fires in January this year. Photo: Olivia Rose-Innes

Beware power lines
Cape fire experts suspect that the devastating fires in the Red Hill-Scarborough area were the work of arsonists. However, the cause of one of the Red Hill fires appears to have been an electrical fault on a poorly maintained pylon.

The property's landowner, Allan Lutge, reported that a faulty transformer on an Eskom pylon caused arcing that ignited surrounding vegetation. The resulting wildfire spread to adjacent properties and into the TMNP.

Says Prins: “There is definitely a risk from power lines if they are faulty and especially in strong winds. A fire started a couple of years ago from one of the power lines on Kloof Corner [on Table Mountain above Tafelberg Road]. It’s the responsibility of municipal electricity departments to maintain these.”

Landowners are advised to keep an eye on electricity installations, like pylons, on or near their property, and complain to authorities if these are not well maintained.

To evacuate or not to evacuate?
Prins says that it may not always be appropriate to evacuate when a wildfire approaches. “The thinking is that more houses could be saved if homeowners were prepared, acted quickly and didn’t just leave everything up to the emergency services. This depends of course on the specific circumstances – in some cases, vulnerable individuals like children should be moved if fire threatens.”

If homeowners are planning to stand their ground and help protect their turf, however, Prins says they need to be properly prepared, preferably with basic fire suppression training and equipment. For landowners in the Cape Peninsula and surrounds, TMNP's Volunteer Wildfire Services offers customised training and equipment sourcing.

Get involved, get organised and spread the word
If your property is sufficiently large (e.g. a smallholding) and at risk (e.g. adjacent to a national park or other vegetated area), it is advisable to join, or form, a Fire Protection Association (FPA).

A major incentive for this is that FPA membership affords members protection from legal liability should a wildfire start on their property. According to the "presumption of negligence" clause of the National Veld and Forest Act, a landowner can be found liable to cover the costs of fire suppression operations - which can easily run to hundreds of thousands of rand - should a wildfire start on his or her property.

Says Prins: “We’re trying to keep FPA membership fees relatively low. Currently the FPAs get no funds from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, and, as custodians of the National Veld and Forest Act, it really is in large part their responsibility. I feel we aren’t doing enough about the fire issue, but it takes funds, and government needs to step in here.”

"One positive development is that we're able to employ an Extension Officer this year, who can go out and meet with landowners."

“There’s also an urgent need for fire awareness and education in the Cape Peninsula – and in many parts of South Africa. There has been work done in this area; for example we identified schools on the perimeter of the park, particularly Oceanview, where fire education would be most valuable. But again, this kind of initiative needs to be properly funded to be effective.”

To find out more about FPAs in your area, call 011 397 1618/9. If you are resident in the Cape Peninsula, call Philip Prins regarding FPAs on 021 689 7438/9.

Basic wildfire-proofing tips for homeowners

In preparation:

• Form a safety zone, ideally with a radius of about 20m around your house, using paving, gravel or green lawn that is kept short and well-watered. Keep this area free of debris like dead leaves and twigs. No tree branches should overhang the safety zone. Avoid having trees and bushes adjacent to the house, or creepers on the walls.
• Keep roof surfaces and gutters free from flammable debris.
• Remove dead branches, which burn easily, from trees. To reduce the chance of fire spreading between trees or from the ground to trees, keep the space between tree crowns clear, and remove low-hanging branches or those that may come into contact with electrical wires (it’s best to get a professional tree service in to do this.)
• Choose fire-resistant, water-wise plants for your garden – especially those near your house. Remove alien species that tend to burn well e.g. eucalyptus. Southern Cape residents can contact the TMNP’s visitor’s centre at Cape Point (021 780 9204) for advice.
• Consider installing screens, shutters or heavy fire-resistant curtains. During a fire, wind can blow embers and other burning debris onto your property, sometimes with enough force to break windows.
• Keep useful tools easily available to deal with small fires before the fire professionals arrive e.g. a rake, axe, saw, spade, fire beaters. Have a ladder that will reach the roof: you may need to get up there to wet it down or remove flammable or burning debris.
• Store any combustible substances e.g. firewood, gas, petrol, paint and solvents as far away from the living area as possible, and only keep the minimum that you need on your property.
• Make sure your hoses are in good working order, and can reach all parts of the property.
• Swimming pools and other water features like ponds can be a useful source of water during a fire.
• During fire season, check the fire danger rating on a daily basis.
• Enter emergency numbers on your cell phone and paste them up next to landlines.

If a fire approaches:

• Hose down the garden and house, especially on the side of the approaching fire.
• Fill baths and other containers with water for use in case the water pressure drops.
• Block gaps under doors with wet towels.
• Close doors, windows and window screens.
• If you have decided to stay on your property, go indoors before the fire front arrives and stay there until it has passed.
• Remain vigilant even after the fire front has passed: watch for flareups and listen to radio broadcasts for advice from the authorities.

Fire tips sourced from TMNP, DWAF, Red Cross and FEMA

- Olivia Rose-Innes, Health24, updated November 2008

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