Skip to main content

Natural disaster wildfires claims 8 lives in Southern Cape




Fire and weather conditions have given the residents of George, Southern Cape,  little chance for a breather and to save what's left of their belongs as the fire claimed 8 lives.

Destruction

More than 16,000 hectares of vegetation and forest have been reduced to ash while more than 400 firefighters have been deployed to battle the blaze.

According to online sources, the Western Cape Environmental Affairs MEC, Anton Bredell says this is not the first big fire that they've had – it’s the seventh big fire in two weeks and the region also lost about 2,500 informal houses.

The fires have largely been contained, although the main concern right now, according to sources, is the De Vlugt area, about an hour out of George where a blaze remains volatile.

Maintenance and care of fire protection system

The goals of fire prevention are to prevent loss of life, property damage and downtime in use of a building. Fires often cause disruption of business activities, loss of documents, loss of employee work hours and liabilities claim, resulting from the spread of fire to adjacent properties.

Fire prevention program in place

The fire prevention program is said to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of fires by training occupants in fire safety, as well as proper maintenance and care of the fire protection system. By controlling potential ignition sources and fuels a successful fire prevention program is part of the day-to-day operations of every property.

This includes issues such as:

  • Methods of minimizing fires
  • Responsibilities for carrying out fire risk management
  • Maintenance and testing requirements for fire safety equipment
  • Evacuation procedures and responsibilities for all staff
  • Specific procedures for special events


Natural disaster wildfires

Unlike many natural disasters, most wildfires are caused by people—and can be prevented by people, too. While it is not easy to forecast wildfire outbreaks, people in fire-prone areas should plan ahead and prepare to evacuate with little notice.

Below are some tips on how to prevent wildfires and what to do if you're caught in the middle of one.

- Contact emergency firefighter company, your local fire department, or the park service if you notice an unattended or out-of-control fire.

- Never leave a fire unattended. Completely extinguish the fire—by dousing it with water and stirring the ashes until cold—before sleeping or leaving the campsite.

- When camping, take care when using and fueling lanterns, stoves, and heaters. Make sure lighting and heating devices are cool before refueling.

- Avoid spilling flammable liquids and store fuel away from appliances.

- Do not discard cigarettes, matches, and smoking materials from moving vehicles, or anywhere on park grounds. Be certain to completely extinguish cigarettes before disposing of them.

- Follow local ordinances when burning yard waste. Avoid backyard burning in windy conditions, and keep a shovel, water, and fire retardant nearby to keep fires in check. Remove all flammables from the yard when burning.



Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Six Benefits of Fire Safety Curtains

Fire safety curtains have become more commonplace at commercial buildings in the past decade. While curtains have been used extensively, most curtain use for commercial settings was limited to theaters. While the use of curtains evolves in commercial settings, for others - including fire department personnel have expressed frustration in knowing exactly which standards apply. A fire safety curtain, also known as a fire curtain barrier or active fire curtain barrier system, is a fire-separating element designed to automatically deploy upon receiving a signal from a smoke protection device, gravity-deploy on a loss of power or sensor to; Protect escape routes without any loss of fire resistance and to limit smoke entry into these routes i.e, to protect corridors and lift shafts. Compartmentalise a building – a fire curtain will deploy to effectively confine a fire. As an important lifesaving system designed to provide protection from fire, the fire curtain is a...
Post a Comment
Read more

5 fire risk assessment steps

Fire risk assessment is an organised look at what, in your work activities and workplace, could cause harm to people from fire. It will help determine the chances of a fire occurring and the dangers from a fire that the workplace poses for the people who use it. Its purpose is to determine whether existing fire precautions are adequate and reasonable relative to the overall risks presented or if it requires reduction via control measures. The process of fire risk assessment involves the systematic evaluation of the factors that determine the hazard from fire, the likelihood that there will be a fire and the consequences if one were to occur. The harm potential from a fire hazard depends on the potential for development of a fire originating from the hazard and then the potential consequences in terms of life and/or property loss. Determining the potential for harm requires the assessor to make a judgment on the possible outcome of the hazard. The potential for ignition...
Post a Comment
Read more