By Angelah Nothando Mlotshwa
The Bulawayo Metropolitan Province has recorded an increase in property fires which resulted in 117 fires being reported in 2022 up from 102 recorded the previous year.
This was said by the Mayor of the City of Bulawayo Councillor Solomon Mguni in his end of 2022 report.
He said these fire outbreaks are mostly caused by lack of knowledge and negligence on the part of some residence.
“In 2023 we hope to increase fire awareness campaigns that are run by the fire and ambulance department. Some of these fires are caused by the careless discarding of lit materials, deliberate fire setting and increased loadshedding which has seen property worth thousands of dollars being lost in these fire outbreaks”, the Mayor said.
One example of such fires was when Ringwood flat along second avenue was gutted by fire due to a suspected leaking of gas in one of the apartments.
The top floor of the three storey residential flat comprising five apartments was completely destroyed. There were no casualties in this incident with the property worth ZWL$70 million being destroyed by the inferno.
“The vandalism of fire hydrants by members of the public is cause for concern. To ensure that the hydrants are usable, the Brigade has put in place an inspection programme so that the vandalised equipment is repaired and usable. This is a further strain on the already outstretched resources. Related to this is the current water shedding program which has affected fire hydrants that are without water for long periods” added the Mayor.
Memory Kapumha the Environmental Education and Publication Officer weighed in, in an interview with ZIM GBC NEWS saying that fire outbreaks have a capability of destroying economic gains.
“As Environmental Management Agency we look into veld fires and as such the Agency conducts awarenesses with the public through face to face interactions and media. The Agency also trains fire fighting committees and are taught on how to make fire beaters using locally available materials. The Agency has since rolled out the Anti-Fire Model Village where we targeted high risk zones of fire outbreaks and for Bulawayo it was Robert Sinyoka in ward 17”, said Kapumha.
“Fire guards were constructed and donations of water cans, fire beaters and sickels were made to the village to prevent fires lastly the Agency enforces the law through SI 7 of 2007 EIA and ecosystems protection, which speaks to veld fires where anyone seen to start the fire is fined and failure to report the fires, in essence the Agency is there to enforce the law regarding veld fires”, she added.-