This after weather services issued a statement about cold conditions with temperatures expected to drop to 12 degrees in some parts of the province.

Metro spokesperson Qondile Khedama says they are aware that as temperatures drop, some residents will rely on open fires, paraffin and gas heaters to keep warm and that their reports have in the past indicated that these apparatuses are the sources of most domestic fires.

He highlights that in the light of this, the metro has a proactive fire management plan in place, which they are currently rolling out to ensure that they are ready for any eventuality during this period and the entire winter season. 

“The Mangaung Metro Fire Service, through Public Education Division, has in the past four weeks accelerated its Fire Awareness Campaign for the winter season and has been visiting communities, schools and churches across the city to raise awareness and caution residents to be safe.

“The focus of these campaigns is to prevent fires from happening, but in the unfortunate case of a fire, we have stations in all our regions and arrangements have been made regarding former Naledi Municipality and Soutpan in case of fire.

“In any eventuality the city’s well-trained officers will be on call and ready to respond,” he explains. 

Working on Fire has also confirmed that they have put in place measures to deal with veld fires as they are now common because of dry conditions.

Spokesperson for this extended programme of the Department of Environmental Affairs, Wayne Mokhethi, told OFM News that if left unchecked, veld fires can cause widespread damage to property, and more seriously, pose a huge threat to human lives as well as livestock. Hence, they have trained more fire-fighters for this year’s winter season.  

He urges members of the public to be on high alert and take precautionary measures such as removing tall grass and wood that may be lying around their area, to observe the Fire Danger Index, and not start a fire when there is a high wind alert as well as to refrain from illegal electrical connections.

OFM News