A Free State fire association has warned of the possibility of more veldfires spreading across the province.  

On Friday, fires were reported at Soutpan, Brandfort, Vredefort, Zastron, and Boshof, among others. Some of these fires, in areas such as Dealesville and Soutpan, were contained while fires at Brandfort, Fouriesburg, and Ladybrand remained active.

Following the spreading of fire on Friday (25/8) Johann Savage Breytenbach from the Free State Umbrella Fire Protection Association said the changing conditions assisted containment efforts.

He said as windspeed decreased, temperatures dropped, and humidity levels increased overnight with most fires likely to be contained by Saturday (26/8) morning. “However, the mop–up phase of fire suppression has not been implemented and flare-ups are highly likely to occur as the conditions change after sunrise.”

The local FPA members and landowners are at the point of exhaustion and not able to maintain momentum with suppression operations. "In addition, landowners need to give attention to their animals, effect repairs, and implement emergency and contingency plans and will not be able to effectively deal with the continued fire threat that prevails.

The Provincial Disaster Management Centre activated the Wildfire Response Task Team at approximately 20:00 on Friday. This task team consists of an Incident Management Team, 5 Working on Fire teams totalling 130 Wildland Firefighters, supported by 5 operational vehicles, two personnel transporters, and a spotter aircraft.

The team is expected to assist the community by identifying and responding to hotspots and flare-ups, where necessary, from 07:00 on Saturday.

More additional supporting agencies like the National Council of SPCA, SAPS, and various FPA volunteer teams will coordinate actions through the Incident Command Team.

Saturday's Fire Danger Index Values.

Breytenbach has provided details on how they plan to deal with the fires in case of more eruptions. An incident Management Post with a staging area is established at Soetdoring Nature Reserve to accommodate external fire crews with their equipment and vehicles.

The Task Team will provide support to communities in affected areas and establish the effective containment of the fire before weather conditions deteriorate again from Tuesday.

The weather services predict cooler and stable conditions to prevail over the area until Monday (28/8) when the cold front is expected to pass.

The wind is expected to remain gusty, and humidity is also expected to decrease towards mid-day on Saturday, increasing the probability of flare-ups at hotspots all along the fire perimeter.

OFM News