“This is a lot,” said Johan Heine, co-managing director of the FFA Group, which implements government’s Working on Fire (WoF) programme.
Speaking at the Forestry SA-facilitated Industry Fire Working Group in Pietermaritzburg on 4 November, Heine said what was needed was better placement of aircraft during fire season.
“One of the focus areas in aerial fire-fighting is the initial attack. The latest consensus in Mpumalanga is that we must try to get from detection to first drop in a maximum time of 10 minutes. The second drop must be within the next two minutes. Thereafter you need enough water – 4 000 litres water plus – for every 10 minutes of your extended attack.”
Heine said the forestry industry in Mpumalanga was working on a strategy to improve the initial attack. “We need to adjust and modify airbases, airbase procedures and the placement of aircraft. The proposal is not to look at individuals reacting, but reacting as a group to fires,” he said.
Fire-fighting aircraft aren’t cheap. Spotters cost R70 000/month, bombers R150 000 to R300 000, and helicopters R200 000 to R300 000.
“The cost to forestry is about R7/litre water delivered to a fire. But aerial fire-fighting is not a silver bullet. It has to be used in conjunction with support crew on the ground. There is still a lot of work to be done. I believe we can share resources and use them more effectively,” said Heine.
