A sorry sight … a fine pine compartment burnt in the Karkloof fire.
Wildfire season has kicked off with a bang in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands with a number of destructive fires that have claimed the lives of 14 people, destroyed dozens of homes and equipment and damaged thousands of hectares of commercial forestry and agricultural land, not to mention the loss of livestock and wildlife.
According to Simon Thomas of the KZN FPA, the number and severity of wildfires in the province has escalated during July due to high fuel loads and extremely hot and dry conditions prevailing across the region.
A wildfire that broke out near Boston in mid-July resulted in the death of seven firefighters who were caught in the flames when the wind suddenly changed direction. Three of the firefighters died on the scene, and four more died later from their injuries.
The firebreak between the pine plantation (right) and the property on the left was hopelessly inadequate and failed to stop the spread of the fire.
Reports have also come through of the recent death of a forester in the Ixopo area who was severely burnt when the wind changed direction causing a controlled burn to run out of control.
Sunday 7th July was another high fire danger day with a number of fires breaking out in Mooi River and Karkloof areas of the midlands. The Mooi River fire reportedly burnt a lot of forestry and conservation land around Mount Gilboa, and another fire in Karkloof that started up later that night burnt through a pine plantation as well as several smallholder farms.
The Zululand coastal area has been fairly quiet, but there have been some big fires in the Melmoth area, also in early July.
Simon says that land managers and fire fighters across the province are on high alert as the hot and dry conditions are continuing. He said that the weather forecast for the weeks ahead are very uncertain, but that there are hopes that early spring rains could bring some relief by mid-September.
In most cases the exact cause of the fires is very difficult to determine, but fingers have been pointed at deliberate arson fires. This seems to be the cause of the Karkloof fire as the ignition point is clearly identifiable in the landscape. According to local people there was no lightning on the day of the fire to cause ignition, and the Mooi River fire was too far away to have caused spotting.
Local smallholders in the area say that the fire breaks prepared by the plantation managers are hopelessly inadequate and did not prevent the fire – which was fanned by winds up to 70 km per hour - from entering their adjacent properties. Three dwellings were also destroyed in the blaze.
Greg Gardiner surveys the wreckage of his family home that was burnt to the ground in the Karkloof fire.
The remains of Greg Gardiner’s water tanks, destroyed by the wildfire.
Poachers have been fingered for starting the Boston fire. Apparently the poachers light the bush to drive out the animals so that they can hunt them down, and then the fire gets away.
Land managers are urged to be alert so that they can respond quickly to any fires starting on their properties. It is much easier to put out a fire when it is still small than it is to tackle a fire that is running out of control.
Members of the public are also urged to be vigilant, and to not start any fires in the open – especially on high fire danger days.
All landowners in fire-prone rural areas should be members of the local fire protection association, which are there to provide assistance and support throughout the fire season.
Three weeks after the fire …
Wildfires are set to become commonplace
Here's how World Cup rugby star and farmer Kwagga Smith prepares for fire season...
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) reports that the increasing urbanisation of South Africa’s rapidly growing population is a significant factor impacting the risk of wildfires. They explain: “More and more people, assets and infrastructure are placed on the boundary or interface between developed land and fire-prone vegetation – what we call the wildland-urban interface (WUI) – where they are exposed to wildfires.” They go on to say that the combination of climate and vegetation characteristics that favour fires, and growing human exposure, results in significant wildfire risk across the country, especially in the southern and eastern parts.
“Unfortunately, the situation will not improve because climate change will result in more frequent and extended high fire danger periods and, therefore, an increased likelihood of severe fires,” they further add, advising that the best option is to reduce fire risks and keep them as low as possible.
Kwagga Smith a world-cup winning rugby player, is also a farmer in one of the highest fire-risk areas in our country. “The Dullstroom area has experienced some devastating fires and as a farmer, you need to be prepared at all times. Drawing from his personal experience, he shares valuable advice on fire prevention and safety.
These are his five top tips for BEING PREPARED for fire season:
Burn fire breaks
Start this process in summer rather than waiting until after the first frost. Burn the tracer lines so that it’s easy to burn the breaks after the frost kills the grass in winter. Apply glyphosate using sprayers to create a 1m wide strip along the fence line and another 1m strip about 20m into the farm. Once this grass dies off, burn it. Then wait for the frost, which will kill the grass in the 20m strip between the tracer lines. After the frost, burn this area. This final burned strip becomes your firebreak.
Skill up, Gear up
A fire break will not stop a fire though; it’s there to give you space to work from. Back burning, beating or some other form of firefighting, will still be necessary to stop a fire from spreading. It is, thus, essential that everyone is skilled and equipped to be able to manage fires.
Invest wisely
When you’re facing a raging inferno, any money saved from buying inferior equipment can quickly become a costly mistake. Rather invest in quality machinery that will perform reliably when it is needed most.
Be ready
Before fire season, service and test all necessary equipment. Make sure pumps and leaf blowers are easily accessible, chainsaws are sharp, tractors are fuelled, fire beaters are intact, and your ‘bakkie-sakkie’ is full. This will ensure that everything you need is ready and on standby. In the case of an emergency, preparedness can make all the difference.
Share the Responsibility
Fire defence shouldn't rely on a single person. It's crucial that multiple people know who to call and what to do in an emergency. Ensure that several individuals can take charge if you are not around, thereby creating a more robust fire response system.
“My dad always said “Goedkoop is duurkoop” – “Penny wise, pound foolish”. That’s why our family invests in Husqvarna’s sprayers, chainsaws, blowers and pumps to ensure we have quality, reliable equipment on hand in the event of a fire. You never know when you will need it and being prepared can make all the difference,” concludes Kwagga.
Africa Biomass Company (ABC) has been a pioneer in the development of biomass processing such as wood chips, biofuel, and mulch in both the agriculture and forestry industries in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades.
In 2004 Willem van der Merwe, founder, and CEO of Africa Biomass Company, bought a small, specialised tree felling company and used wood chippers to enhance productivity. Over time these services and equipment were used in agriculture, river rehabilitation projects, and lately also forestry, with a focus on biomass to energy and under canopy mulching.
ABC has grown to meet increasing demand for these services and now has nine production teams using the latest biomass processing equipment and techniques to process plantation residue, alien invasive trees, and encroacher bushes.
ABC specialises in providing contracting services in the following core operations: -
Land Preparation Serrat mulchers have demonstrated their effectiveness as a comprehensive solution for land preparation before replanting. Plantation managers see this as the future of single-step preparation, replacing the previously used herbicides, burning, and manual labour, which were both labour-intensive and had a detrimental impact on the soil conditions.
Under Canopy Mulching and Fire Management In South Africa, the practice of under canopy mulching is gaining traction as part of an integrated fire management strategy to reduce fuel loads, such as prunings. ABC is excited about the results obtained through multiple trials in various regions using the rugged Serrat mulchers to process fuel load in an efficient, cost-effective, and ecologically beneficial way to the environment. The Serrat forestry mulchers, available as part of ABC’s contracting fleet or to purchase, come in several widths and can process several diameters of material according to the client’s need.
Biomass to Energy Correctly sourced biomass is environmentally friendly, renewable, abundantly available, and cost-effective fuel that can be combusted as a source of fuel to generate heat for a variety of applications. Typical sustainable sources of biomass are offcuts from sustainably managed commercial plantations, recycled orchard and vineyard residues, and most importantly invasive alien vegetation that is cleared as part of river rehabilitation projects. Harvesting unwanted alien vegetation increases water runoff, decreases the risk of bush fires, and contributes to the restoration of natural vegetation.
ABC is an authorised dealer for Bandit wood chippers, Serrat mulchers, Badger biomass equipment and Dezzi equipment. They are based in Worcester in the Western Cape and have branches in George (W. Cape), Kirkwood (Eastern Cape), Upington (Northern Cape), Parys (Free State), Tzaneen (Limpopo) and Nelspruit (Mpumalanga).
ABC places a high value on customer well-being and after-sales support, and each customer's operations are treated as unique, with custom-tailored solutions.
ABC are Gold Sponsors at this year’s Focus on Forestry Conference taking place at Karkloof in the KZN midlands from 7-9 November, and conference delegates are invited to visit their stand. ABC CEO Willem van der Merwe will address the following topic on Wednesday, 8th November at 11:55: “The latest biomass processing equipment and techniques available to process plantation residue, alien invasive trees, and encroacher bush.”
For more info visit ABC’s website at www.abc.co.za, their YouTube channel at “Africa Biomass Company” or contact the ABC head office at 023 342 1212.
For a full list of new and used equipment for sale, send an email to: info@abc.co.za
‘Our roots are in timber’
Safire CEO Pierre Bekker (left), with Gareth Smallbones, Manager: Agriculture.
Safire has evolved from specialist timber insurer to offering a diversified range of insurance products, providing protection to clients in an increasingly volatile world …
Pierre Bekker, CEO of Pietermaritzburg-based Safire Insurance, discusses the dynamics of the current insurance market, and acknowledges the solid foundation created through their timber insurance business.
“Global insurance has been very difficult for the past few years, both in terms of claims expenses from natural catastrophes and the supply side of the business,” says Pierre. “There have been dramatic and costly events such as vast fires in Chile (2023), Greece and Siberia (2021), where 18 million hectares of forests were burned, and the Australian wildfires in 2020 and 2022, where 12.6 million hectares of both natural and commercial forests were destroyed, as well as the Californian wildfires of 2020-2021. There have also been severe wind storms in Europe. In addition, flooding and earthquakes have caused widespread devastation around the world.”
Charts courtesy of Munich RE, NatCATSERVICES.
According to a United Nations Environment Programme report from 2022 entitled Spreading Like Wildfire, “climate change and land-use change are making wildfires worse”, with a warning to anticipate “a global increase of extreme fires even in areas previously unaffected”.
Violent wind storms are amongst the most damaging natural hazards in Europe, with annual loses reaching approximately € 5 billion in the EU and UK, with the highest absolute losses experienced in Germany (€ 850 million/year), France (€ 680 million/year), Italy (€ 540 million/year) and the UK (€ 530 million/year).
“Premiums collected by any insurer will never be sufficient to cover policyholders’ claims in a year of severe natural disasters, so insurers have to hold capital to meet the obligation to pay policyholders for possible claims that may or may not materialise. This capital comes at a cost and when interest rates increase this cost of capital increases,” explains Pierre. This is what Pierre refers to as the supply side of the insurance industry. Simply put, it is the amount of insurance capacity available and both the amount and cost of such capacity is inextricably linked to global financial markets.
“After COVID, there was an almost unprecedented reduction in interest rates and capital flowed into the insurance markets,” he says. “This resulted in significant increases in the insurance capacity available which further softened the insurance cycle, leading to unsustainably low premiums. Just as the term ‘zombie firm’ refers to a company that doesn’t earn enough to cover its interest costs yet continues to operate, so the market has seen a rise in so-called zombie insurance capacity during the era of easy money. This refers to insurers extending their capacity to writing business at technically unprofitable levels and for classes that they do not normally participate in.”
However, the days of easy money are over and the sudden rise in interest rates is now reversing this trend in no small measure. “The supply side constraints would on their own have a hardening effect on insurance markets, pushing rates up in conjunction with the increasing cost of capital,” says Pierre. “But combine this with the devastating natural catastrophes of the past few years, which have resulted in massive claims costs for insurers, and we have a perfect storm playing out in the global insurance markets. Predictions are now pointing to a severe hardening in the markets, the likes of which have not been seen since 1992.”
Safire came about because of the high cost of timber insurance in South Africa in the 1980s, a situation created by the cost to global insurers of devastating fires in South America and elsewhere in the world. Timber grower Bailey Bekker, Pierre’s father, conceived the concept of a timber insurance co-operative, with individual timber growers contributing to a pool of resources shared by other low-risk timber growers.
A special feature of commercial forestry is that, compared to other crops, plantations have a significantly extended growth period, depending on the tree species, geography and timber product in question. Accordingly, the related capital is bound and the trees are exposed to various risks for an extended period of time. However, despite their long risk exposure periods, only a small percentage of the world’s forests are currently insured.
“It is impossible for an individual timber grower to completely self-insure effectively”, says Pierre. “Forestry risk is considered to be low frequency and high catastrophe in nature. Because of this, the pooling effect of insurance is vital. Many timber growers that pool their premiums together pay for the very large, severe losses of the few. This is exactly why Safire was founded and continues to serve this purpose to this day.”
Although insurance markets are facing the ‘perfect storm’ on both the supply and claims expense fronts, Pierre explains that Safire offers protection against this market volatility for the following reasons:
Relationship with reinsurers Our reinsurers have long agreed to treat our forestry pool of risk outside of the major volatility in the open markets. This has come about because of a reciprocal loyalty we have to each other that transcends hard and soft market cycles. This loyalty could only have been offered to our reinsurers on behalf of our insured members because of the loyalty of our members to supporting the pool during good and bad times.
Performance of the pool The loss performance of our pool has consistently out-performed the market and we have shown really good results for our reinsurers over an extended period of 35 years, since Safire was started in 1987. This is in no small part due to a very selective underwriting approach where only well-managed risks are allowed access to the pool.
Pierre continues, “We are not completely immune to market forces but we have serious protection against extreme volatility, which in recent years has led to no insurance capacity for some commercial timber growers in our local market.”
Insurance is based on the number and frequency of natural disasters with actual and anticipated events being considered as per actuarial science models. ”Interestingly enough, our data shows that, locally, fires are not getting worse,” says Pierre. “Plantation fires in South Africa have not necessarily been more severe or brought about higher losses since the devastating fires of 2007 and 2008 that severely affected industrial forestry plantations.”
Weather models are now predicting South Africa to be moving from a typically wet (and unusually extended) three-year La Niña cycle into a dry El Niño period with the possibility of dry weather conditions bringing about low volatility in terms of natural disasters but potentially increasing the risk of fire.
Since its beginnings as a local timber insurer supported by the prestigious Lloyds of London, Safire has expanded to provide a diverse range of short-term insurance products. The company has seen an impressive 20% growth for the past few years, and while forestry only accounts for some 10% of the business these days, growth and diversification has enabled Safire to provide even better timber insurance services on a much more sustainable basis, in addition to its wider short-term insurance offering. But Safire’s timber clients are still close to Pierre’s heart. “It’s where our roots are, and for many years we were the only true suppliers of timber insurance to the local timber growers. It’s a partnership that we value…”
Mega-fires, politics and the force of nature
Ghostly post mega-fire landscape, Southern Cape.
The number and severity of out-of-control wildfires are increasing around the world, causing untold damage to the environment, to infrastructure and the local economies, not to mention the loss of life and suffering of fire victims – both human and animal.
We all know why this is happening … climate change, prolonged dry spells followed by high winds, uncontrolled development on the urban-wildland interface, the proliferation of invasive alien plants leading to high fuel loads, changing land use patterns, poor land management, criminality, negligence and arson.
Yet we live in an environment here in southern Africa that is described as ‘fire-prone’. The natural landscapes around us actually need fire to maintain their ecological integrity. Surely we should have learned to manage these dynamics by now?
The fact of the matter is that fire is a primal force of nature that is not easily controlled, and in some instances is uncontrollable. Therefore human efforts to manage fire are always going to be caught short. Once a big fire is rampaging through a dry landscape with high fuel loads and strong winds behind it, there is no stopping it.
Our best option is to try and manage the conditions that fuel the development of uncontrollable wildfires in the first place, and to get our disaster teams organised to deal with the consequences when they do happen. This is easier said than done, requiring a level of cooperation between land owners, land managers, fire protection associations, fire authorities at all levels of government - and the weather gods – that has thus far escaped us.
Nelson Mandela University has made a huge contribution to efforts to understand and manage the dynamics that surround fire management through the development of a comprehensive Fire Management study programme and the hosting of annual Fire Management symposiums that bring together fire experts from around the country and the world.
Many of these fire experts attended the most recent 13th Fire Management Symposium held at NMU’s George Campus in November last year, thrashing out the issues, comparing notes and networking furiously. Useful, but unlikely to stop the next mega-fire. As one experienced delegate pointed out, we talk and talk but get no closer to achieving the level of collaboration required by all the fire stakeholders to actually make a difference.
Well controlled prescribed burn in the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park is designed to reduce fuel loads in an effort to prevent unwanted wildfires.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is the absence at these symposiums of key government figures who could influence policy and resource allocation at national, provincial and local levels that would enable fire management stakeholders to ramp up their capacity to manage fire.
Forestry companies find themselves in the trenches at the fire-line, spending their own money to protect their plantations and processing facilities from wildfires, many of which are started outside of their boundaries. They prop up local fire protection associations, run fire awareness campaigns and put out fires they didn’t start.
This is where the rubber hits the tar.
One of the highlights of the recent Symposium was the presentation by Montigny Investments’ Risk Manager, Arno Pienaar. The Montigny team operates 80 000 ha of forest land in neighbouring Eswatini, and have implemented an old school ‘military style’ approach to keep fires out of their plantations, with considerable success. These are the same plantations that burnt to the ground in 2008, resulting in the closure of the Usutu pulp mill and the loss of hundreds of jobs. Montigny Investments is now the biggest single employer in Eswatini, and they simply cannot afford to allow another mega-fire to destroy it all again. So they have made their own plans, unconventional but effective (see full story here).
One of the keys to Montigny’s success, and this came up again and again during the symposium, was the need to get local communities on your side to prevent wildfires from happening. Properly on your side. Cut out arson fires started by angry, bored, poor, disgruntled neighbours, and half your battle is won.
This is way easier said than done, and involves a complete overhaul of the socio-economic conditions that prevail in much of southern Africa. It’s complicated, and goes way beyond the scope of the fire management fraternity.
Lessons from a mega-fire
Perhaps it would be useful to re-look at the learnings that Paul Gerber, Chief Executive Officer of the Southern Cape FPA, took from the 2017 mega-fire that turned large swaths of the Southern Cape region between George and PE to a cinder in 2017.
The Southern Cape Fire Protection Association has its hands full keeping wildfires out of this region.
• Overall there is a greater need for integrated fire management.
• Greater focus needs to be directed at awareness of the general public as well as different authorities, concerning the fire hazards that exist in the natural as well as built environment.
• Lack of financial resources: Plans for fire fighting are good but must be implementable by providing ample resources. The emphasis needs to be on being pro-active rather than reactive. A good example here is that helicopters are not deployed early enough while fires are still small and conditions are favourable, because of the high operating costs involved. They are only released when fires have assumed disastrous proportions, by which time conditions are often no longer safe for flying.
• Because of a general shortage of fire-fighting capacity and resources, more emphasis should be placed on pro-active fire prevention measures, especially controlled burns. In the well-known fire triangle, the fuel load, particularly the fine fuel component, is the only factor that can be managed and controlled. This is the factor on which all involved in fire prevention should concentrate.
• The use of media in informing and warning people was not effective. In the recent fire there was a lack of communication with the public/residents, as well as among fire fighting crews during the operations. The need for an independent, dedicated two-way radio communication system during disasters was identified, as communications via existing radio and cell-phone networks proved to be ineffective at times.
• Tactical and operational planning for the combatting of wildfires of this size should rely heavily on local experience and knowledge. With the introduction of authorities from elsewhere to take command, it was found that advice from local fire experts was disregarded.
• All spheres of government involved in fire disasters need to be trained in the incident command system.
• Divisional supervisors (‘fire bosses’) need to be well trained. At the Knysna fire there were not enough qualified fire bosses. Such supervisors need to undergo organised training courses. In the recent fire five FPA managers had to be made available to act as divisional supervisors.
• The need for fire fighting personnel experienced in veld fires who know how to make back-burns, was identified. The holiday resort of Buffalo Bay and the Fairview forest village were saved from being destroyed by judicious back-burns by foresters. It must be noted that some authorities would not give permission for such operations to be conducted.
• In the urban-rural interface, many houses built amongst natural vegetation burnt down. This practice must be reviewed and buildings need defendable space around them in the case of wildfires.
Here are some take-outs from the 13th Fire Management Symposium:-
A common thread of wildfires around the world … droughts followed by heat waves with temps above 40 degrees C and strong winds - Greg Forsyth, CSIR
Symposium presenters fielding questions from the floor (left to right) Ian Pienaar (Montigny), Trevor Abrahams (WoF), Paul Gerber (Southern Cape FPA) and Pam Booth (Knysna Municipality).
10 000 ha burnt in five hours. Final size of the fire: 189 000 ha. Flame lengths: 300 metres - Rodeo-Chediski fire, Arizona, 2002.
When it rains a lot in dry parts of South Africa, beware the following year the risk of wildfires increases - Greg Forsyth, CSIR
Building regulations should take fire risk into account – Greg Forsyth.
More accurate, balanced and informed reporting on fire is needed in SA – Lee Raath Brownie, Fire & Rescue International.
Fires are a people problem – Arno Pienaar, Montigny.
We need 17 000 wildland fire fighters in SA. We have 5 300 – Trevor Abrahams, Working on Fire.
One of the successes of the WoF programme are the many people who come through the programme and move into positions of employment. 60% of WoF managers are former WoF firefighters – Trevor Abrahams.
Working on Fire is a government job creation initiative that trains and deploys young fire fighters who assist landowners in times of need.
We talk and don’t implement. We are still doing it – Paul Gerber, Southern Cape FPA.
The Knysna fire was reported two months before it turned into a big fire. It was left to smoulder – Paul Gerber.
Fire is part of the African landscape. If you exclude it, it will lead to higher fuel loads and ultimately bigger fires – Piet van der Merwe, WoF.
Fires grow exponentially after ignition. The quicker you can get to it, the smaller is the fire and the easier it is to put out. – Piet van der Merwe.
We need to figure out how to capacitate FPAs … almost all of them are dependent on private sector funding – Val Charlton, Land Works.
Integrated fire prevention is a leadership problem more than a funding problem … there is an absence of political leadership and support – Etienne du Toit, Western Cape Government
Fuel load influences all the pillars of your fire management strategy – Deon Greyling, Mondi.
Big fires change the ecology of a landscape – Dr Rachel Loehman, US Geological Survey.
Pine and fynbos are highly flammable and fire prone – Dr Annelise Schutte-Vlok, Cape Nature.
Fire frequency is lower in small and medium grower plantations – Jeffrey le Roux, Sappi.
Everything that happens on the surface of the earth affects the groundwater, which provides 30% of the world’s fresh water. All pollution percolates down into the groundwater. So wildfires and groundwater are intimately linked – Dr Jo Barnes.
The ‘bakkie sakkie’ is the basic equipment that helps foresters keep wildfires out of their plantations.Rehabilitation work on the go to prevent soil erosion near Knysna after the 2017 inferno.Stihl knapsacks, blowers and chainsaws on display at the symposium.Timber salvaged by PG Bison after the 2017 Knysna fires is stacked in a massive wet deck that at its height was 3 km long, 24 metres wide and 4.5 metres high. (Photo courtesy Roger Parsons and Ritchie Morris)Fighting fires is dangerous work … you need the right gear.Tiaan Pool, Head of the Forestry, Wood Technology and Veldfire Management Department at Nelson Mandela University, is the driving force behind the Fire Symposiums held at the NMU George campus.
How the Montigny team keep unwanted fire out of their Eswatini plantations …
A return to sound forestry practices of the past coupled with the introduction of a military-style approach to fire management at Montigny Investments forests in Eswatini has had a big impact in reducing the number and severity of wildfires experienced in the company’s plantations. Key factors in the turnaround include improved community relations, a zero tolerance approach to arson and crime, well trained and drilled ground-based fire teams and astute use of tried and tested ‘old fashioned’ fire prevention methods coupled with modern technology.
Commercial tree plantations in Eswatini – particularly the Usutu plantation - have a history of fire, due to a combination of rugged, mountainous terrain, extreme weather events and a proliferation of arson fires.
Massive fires in 2007/8 destroyed large swaths of the Usutu pine plantation (then owned by Sappi) resulting in the eventual closure of the Usutu pulp mill and the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Montigny Investments, a Swazi owned and operated, integrated timber business, purchased the Usutu forests in 2014, bringing their total land holding to 80 000 ha of which 50 000 ha is planted. The Montigny team is renowned for its innovative and highly practical approach to business, and this approach was applied to the development of a fire prevention strategy that is designed to keep their plantations safe from massive fires such as the one that destroyed Usutu in 2007.
Aerial view of Montigny timber processing facility, Eswatini. Montigny processes more than one million tons of timber a year.
According to Montigny Forestry Manager Jurgens Kritzinger, they looked at the history of fires in the plantations that they operate, and discovered that in the old days there were fewer fires, less damage, better roads, good relationships with neighbouring communities and own operations. As time went by the ownership changes at Usutu led to outsourcing of operations, unhappy people and more arson fires.
The Montigny team turned the ship around by going back to some of the best practices that worked well in the past, re-introduced own ops using their own people and own equipment, put huge emphasis on building community relationships, invested in improved roads, planted dynamic wattle belts and employed a military expert to help them adopt a military-style approach to fire prevention.
Arno Pienaar was serving with a security company in Iraq when he was head hunted by Montigny to head up their fire and risk management function in 2015. Surprisingly, at the time of his appointment Arno had zero forestry experience and zero fire management experience. But the Montigny management were confident they had enough people with forestry and plantation fire experience already – what they needed was Arno’s military expertise.
Arno Pienaar … Montigny Group Risk Manager, presenting at the13th Fire Management Symposium at Nelson Mandela University’s George Campus, South Africa.
In 2015, the Montigny approach to fire management was introduced, with immediate results. That year the company suffered damage to just 18.4 hectares of plantation as a result of wildfire. Prior to that, average annual fire damage was 1 000 hectares. There was also a marked decline in the number of arson fires recorded.
This was not just a flash in the pan, a lucky break! The ever improving fire stats have been sustained to the present day, and speak for themselves:-
YEAR
HECTARES DAMAGED BY FIRE
ARSON FIRES
2014
606 ha
–
2015 (new system introduced)
18.4 ha
19
2016
74.8 ha
11
2017
0
6
2018
45 ha
5
2019
590 ha
6
2020
4.3 ha
1
2021
145 ha
8
2022
2.9 ha
5
Arno provided some insights into the Montigny approach to fire prevention at the 13th Fire Management Symposium held at Nelson Mandela University’s George campus in November 2022.
Fighting fires is a bit like fighting a battle, he said. Success depends upon clear objectives, good preparation and intelligence, the availability of well trained personnel on the ground, the right tools and plenty of ammunition.
All the elements of fire management were carefully analysed in the process of developing a comprehensive strategy that left no stone unturned: fuel load management and fire break preparation, fire detection, reaction, suppression, command and control at the fire front and in the control room, mop up and patrols.
Good intelligence is crucial, explained Arno. Know all the relevant facts.
Reducing the number of arson fires was a key priority. They analysed where arson fires were started, what time of the day (or night) they occur, the phase of the moon. People are predictable and criminal activities follow a pattern – understand the patterns and your counter measures will be more accurate, he said.
Manual harvesting and tractor-trailer short haul at Montigny South, Eswatini, maximises jobs from forestry operations. The Montigny Group employs 11 600 people making it one of the biggest employers in Eswatini.
Getting the community on side
Getting the community on their side was a key part of the strategy. Montigny is renowned for their community programmes. They have established an entire village at Bulembu that looks after over 350 orphaned and vulnerable kids, just one of a number of community projects which provide a good foundation upon which to build community relations.
A dedicated K9 team that breeds and trains bloodhounds to track and find anyone engaging in criminal activity on Montigny property has proved to be an extremely effective deterrent to crime and arson, but has also helped get the community on their side. Most of the K9 missions currently undertaken are in fact solving crimes against the communities living in and around Montigny plantations. Crime doesn’t only affect the forestry company – it also affects the communities deeply, and safety and security is high up on their priority of needs.
Now the criminals know that they are not going to get away with it, says Arno. Even if they don’t secure a conviction, the criminals are pointed out and the community knows who the trouble-makers are – they are the same people who start arson fires. Even the police frequently request assistance from the Montigny K9 team. Thus the community has become an ally and a valuable source of intelligence. So much so that the community stepped up and helped the Montigny team protect the plantation during the unrest that swept across Eswatini in 2021.
They also changed the rules around not allowing employees to give people lifts in company vehicles inside the plantations. A small thing, but the spinoff is significant.
“How can you drive past somebody in your company bakkie with Montigny signage on the side who has to walk 10 kilometres to the nearest bus stop, and expect them to support you?” asked Arno.
It’s this kind of thinking that changes mind-sets.
“The people on the ground realise that we are there to help them – not just to make money for ourselves,” said Arno.
Montigny forestry creates local jobs and utilises a network of subcontractors for timber transport and other operations.
Staff selection and training
Staff selection and training is another key part of the strategy. Dedicated fire teams have very specific tasks and are drilled military-style until they are extremely fit and are experts at their job.
The Montigny team has cancelled their expensive plantation fire camera detection system and have instead established a network of old fashioned fire watch towers with 24-hour surveillance over every inch of the plantation. The tower guards report any smoke detected instantly to the control room, setting in motion a chain of action from highly trained fire-fighting teams that are geared to get to the fire front within 8 minutes.
The fire watch towers also contribute to preventing crime as the guards report any irregular or unscheduled activity in the plantation, which will be followed up and investigated by one of the 300 Montigny field rangers patrolling the plantation.
“We put out any fire that we detect within three kilometres of our boundary,” said Arno. “This is our rule, and there should be no deviation from it.”
A hard lesson was learned in 2019 when a fire was detected outside the Montigny boundary, but within the three km zone. The fire-fighting teams had been busy fighting another fire and were exhausted. Arno was instructed to leave the new fire as it was not in the path of the prevailing wind and was considered low risk. He was told that he was pushing the fire-fighting teams too hard. So he reluctantly left that fire. But the weather turned, the wind picked up and it entered the Montigny plantation and caused extensive damage. Lesson learned!
“You cannot make emotional decisions,” states Arno. The rules are the rules. No deviation.
Montigny fire team at the ready.
Fire boss training
Fire bosses were identified as a key link in the chain of command, and they receive dedicated, customised training. The Montigny team has developed a user-friendly software app that gives fire bosses instant access to critical info about fuel loads, terrain and weather at the fire site, as well as availability and location of fire-fighting teams and equipment, enabling them to make quick, informed decisions.
Arno says that in their experience aerial bombers have not been very effective, especially in the mountainous terrain as they have to drop their water from too high, so they rather rely on ground-based fire-fighting teams backed up with customised fire tenders and bakkie sakkies. Ground crews are needed to mop up after an aerial water drop in any event, so that is where they have invested their resources.
“In the military we know that the air force can give you the initiative, but it’s ground troops that will win you the war,” said Arno.
One of the biggest problems encountered by fire-fighters in rugged terrain is that they run out of water at some point, and the fire gets away while the troops are desperately trying to get more water to the fire line. Arno says this is unacceptable – you can’t afford to run out of ammunition in the middle of a battle. He saw a demonstration of a compressed air foam system and realised this could help extend the capacity of their fire-fighting units to extinguish fires. Now the Montigny fire tenders fitted with CAF systems use 10% water to 90% fire retardant foam to douse fires. This allows the water in the fire tender to last much longer, while also making the hoses lighter and easier to handle, allowing fire fighters to reach the fire front faster. He says his teams can deploy a 180 metre fire hose inside a compartment in 1.5 minutes. Speed is everything.
Using 90% fire retardant foam to 10% water turns a 7 000 litre fire tender into a 70 000 litre fire-fighting resource.
He likened the ‘chaos’ of a wildfire to the ‘chaos’ that troops experience during a gun battle.
“We broke down the 'chaos' element into small bits,” said Arno. Each element is analysed, prepared for and practiced over and over.
The Montigny team’s success in stopping wildfires quickly before they get out of control has significantly improved as a result of cool heads, good management and well trained fire-fighters.
However effective fire prevention starts long before the outbreak of an actual fire and involves every aspect of the forestry operation from budget allocation to fire break preparation, fuel load reduction and slash management, access road design and maintenance, personnel selection and training, community relations, equipment selection and availability, vigilance and readiness.
This takes a team effort and total alignment throughout the organisation with very clear objectives, concluded Arno.
Air drying timber at Montigny South, Eswatini. The Montigny team is able to extract maximum value from each and every tree that they harvest due to the diversity of markets that they supply.
‘Preparing for the next Mega Fire’ is the theme of the 13th Fire Management Symposium, scheduled to be held at the Nelson Mandela University’s (NMU) George Campus from 23 to 25 November.
Effective wildfire management is impeded by a lack of integration between research results, technological development, and efforts by fire managers. In the end all strive to prevent, suppress and protect the environment, human wellbeing, and assets against wildfire.
This event aims to integrate the efforts of natural resource managers, engineers, and scientists through an integrated approach.
The Symposium will bring together fire managers and authorities from different disciplines and land uses including nature conservation, agriculture, disaster management, forestry and local authorities, for a range of informative presentations and exciting networking opportunities.
The choice of George as a venue to host the Symposium is appropriate as it is situated in the scenic southern Cape which experienced one of the worst fires in the history of South Africa on 7 June 2017. Exactly one year later another mega fire swept through the Southern Cape, so this region knows all too well about wildfires.
The George campus is also the venue for the highly acclaimed Fire Management programme offered by NMU which equips aspirant foresters and land managers with a deeper understanding of fire dynamics and the practical application of fire risk reduction, fire management and suppression.
The Symposium brings together top rated international and South African-based fire management specialists who will share their expertise in a very practical and applied manner. Internationally renowned fire scientist Prof Pete Fule will deliver the first keynote address.
The 2nd day of the event is a field day that will provide opportunities for Symposium participants to visit the Southern Cape region to observe the unique vegetation and take note of fire related issues - hosted by the Southern Cape Fire Protection Association.
For more information contact tiaan.pool@mandela.ac.za or Hannes.vanZyl@mandela.ac.za or sonia.roets@mandela.ac.za.
