Cover photo credit: Andre Venter

On Saturday, I accompanied members of the VF+ from Paarl and Worcester to supply the firefighters in the area beneath the mountains where they were putting out the last embers of the fire that swept through the farmlands the previous night.

It was comparatively cool for someone from the Paarl valley, but fighting fire in 30 degree heat saw the men downing litres of bottled water like seasoned beer-boat champions. Efforts by locals, including the Worcester neighbourhood watch society, and the VF+, have resulted in a surfeit of food and water to supply the men working on containing the blaze.

According to the local firefighters, three cottages had been damaged by the fire, and several game animals from the local game reserve had been killed, though fortunately nobody had lost their lives. The fire flared up in its second day despite previous containment efforts, making work particularly difficult for the overstretched department. Current information adds two houses to the list of structural damage.

Local witnesses say the fire was set by two individuals, who were identified to authorities by their hats and jackets, which they quickly removed after being spotted, making identification difficult.

Consensus among the local firefighters was that the current season has been dominated by arson, much more than previous years. However, intentional fires tend not to make the news unless they cause particularly serious damage to property or risk to life, like the recent Gaansbaai fire.

Usually the majority of blazes are caused by unattended campfires, usually by vagrants sleeping in the bush.

Fire teams log their investigations with an internal system known as FireWeb, and information is only published when statistics have been compiled. Last year's statistical release placed blame on human causes for 97% of the fires.

Of that 97%, 25% are attributed to intentional, and 72% to negligent causes, with natural causes like lightning strikes contributing less than 3%. A total of 10,376 hectares of land were burnt.

In Worcester, teams had been dragged in from neighbouring local governments to combat the blaze, as there is currently a shortage of vehicles at a provincial level.

According to local sources, the strict vehicle maintenance standards imposed by the City of Cape Town has resulted in dozens of perfectly serviceable vehicles being sent for scrap, though the local fire teams in the rest of the province benefit from this, as the serious shortage in available vehicles, particularly water tankers, is often made up for by drawing from this pool of decommissioned vehicles, which often only need minor repairs.

The same sources also placed blame on procurement procedures which, instead of pursuing local-economy solutions, such as placing locally manufactured tanks on cheap flatbeds and attaching pump systems, the fire department insists on purchasing extremely expensive tanker vehicles overseas, which the budget struggles to accomodate.

The Province has already burned through its R16 million grant from the national government for combating this busy fire season, and has been forced to find another R3 million to make up the shortfall.

While gripes about inadequate budgeting solutions may prevail among the rank and file, the key pressure on the provincial budget comes from its dependence on the National Treasury for transfers. Unlike the National and Local spheres, the Provinces cannot raise their own revenue, beyond small and marginal items like traffic fines and casino licenses.

As a result, the Western Cape must beg for its budget from a hostile central government, and justify every purchase it makes on terms that are politically influenced.

Additionally, the Treasury, having failed to reign in the government wage bill, has chosen to cut costs by reducing grants for the provincial sphere, crippling our health, education and emergency budgets, which in the case of the flood disaster relief package from last winter, was 84% short of the necessary funds.

The intensity of this fire season has been assisted by the massive growth in vegetation cover over the winter, and the dry January weather. Strong winds have hindered firefighting efforts in two Cape Winelands fires.

A Wolseley fire has been raging for six days with two active fire lines across Bain's Kloof and Elandsberg. The Wolseley fire escalated due to strong north-westerly winds, causing flare-ups in previously contained areas.

In Bain's Kloof, the fire crossed the road into Slanghoek, requiring efforts to protect structures and vineyards. The Elandsberg side saw progress in preventing the fire from spreading into the reserve.

Aerial firefighting resources are expected to be activated when possible, and were seen in use containing fireline on the mountains in Worcester.

With the ANC threatening to make the Western Cape "ungovernable" over the Provincial Powers Bill, the likelihood is that budget constraints may become the least of our worries.

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