Fire Breaks & Fuel Load Management
Sekela Impilo Services can assist and implement the following in terms of a fire management plan which includes fire break location, fuel load management and control block burns.
We provide bush encroachment and alien plant control plans using fire as a cultural control. In addition we offer training and legal compliance audits according to National Veld and Forest Act no 101 of 1998. This includes the fire protection agency registration.
Get In Touch
+27 79 973 2024
gus@sekelaimpilo.co.za
1 Beylena Villas, Reyno Crescent, Witbank
Benefits of using fire as a management tool:
benefit #1
To control and/or stimulate alien plants to germinate in order to reduce the seed bank and then to follow this up with either cultural control (eg: grazing) or chemical (eg: foliar).
benefit #2
To maintain and/or develop basal and canopy cover for soil and water conservation. This minimizes the water velocity by creating barriers that decrease the risk of soil erosion, and increase water infiltration and decreases water run-off within the catchment.
benefit #3
To burn off unpalatable and moribund material left over from the previous growing/grazing season.
benefit #4
To create fire breaks which can assist in controlling wildfires and be used during control burns.
benefit #5
To reduce fuel loads and flammable material.
benefit #6
To control bush encroachment for indigenous invaders like Sweethorn (Vachellia karroo), Sicklebush (Dichrostachys cinerea), Umbrella Thorn (V. tortilis), Black Thorn (Senegalia mellifera) and Mopane (Colophospernum mopane).
benefit #7
To stimulate out of season growth to provide forage high in protein and low in cellulose/hemi-cellulose content when it doesn’t occur naturally.
Benefits of belonging to an FPA:
benefit #1
FPA’s are community-based natural resource management organisations for the collective management of veldfires, using local knowledge within the framework provided by the National Veld and Forest Fire Act no 101 of 1998.
benefit #4
The protection that comes from the enforceable rules of the association, as established in its constitution.
benefit #2
Co-operation in preventing and combating veldfires through the institution of the FPA, within the framework of an agreed veldfire management strategy.
benefit #5
Improved communication among members about, for example, fire hazard conditions and risk management.
benefit #3
Effective management of veld-fires requires organisational structure, strategy, plans, information, networks, skills, and equipment that can seldom be provided adequately by any one landowner alone.
benefit #6
Collaboration by FPA Members implies that resources are shared leading to the availability of more equipment.
benefit #7
As an FPA member, no presumption of negligence would apply in case of a civil claim for damages where a fire has spread from a member’s land and caused damages or losses to the property or land of another person. The benefit lies in the fact that the plaintiff will carry the onus to prove negligence on the part of the defendant regarding the cause of the fire, or the spreading of the fire to other farms.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE EVENT OF A FIRE?
In the event of a veld fire, the landowner may call on a Work on Fire team for assistance. In the event of him/her being a member of an FPA, he/she only has to pay for the fuel of their vehicles to get to the farm and providing them with food (the variable costs). If the landowner is however not a member of an FPA, he/she will be responsible for all their costs such as the use of their equipment, clothing etc.
Get In Touch
+27 79 973 2024
1 Beylena Villas Reyno Crescent Reyno Ridge ext Witbank
