effects of fires: case study

ChirumanzuEMA/www.here.com/.../zibagwe-rural-district-council-61 deaths
Over a five year period, 61 people died in fires. In one horrific incident, a 13-year-old herd boy was trapped in a veld fire with his cattle at Debshen farm and died trying to escape. That same fire spread into a nearby conservancy reducing 35 elephants and six houses to ashes.
This season has been different in Zibagwe. The district has achieved a record low in the number of major fires, and those that did break out were effectively contained by trained villagers.
Gold panners
Headman Solomon Shumba of Ward 30 Woodrich community, who is the leader of the four groups of fire reaction teams, said the villagers had been taught to prevent fire outbreaks as well as to fight fires. Those who received the training spread the word to others and today everyone in the village is a friend of the environment. “The zeal to protect the environment has been amazing. For example, if a fire incident was to start right now, within a couple of minutes, the area would be thronged by villagers ready to fight the blaze and avert disaster,” said Shumba.
Raphael Gondo, 73, a member of one of the fire-fighting teams, explained that veld fires were largely due to the activities of gold panners - who usually prefer clearing land using fire. Criminals such as cattle rustlers and rapists often do the same in order to easily identify targets. “Fire guards have proved to be particularly useful. They have prevented fires from spreading from one farm or forest area to another. This has been our strength. Team work has also helped especially in alerting each other of the activities of illegal gold panners and other criminals who purposely start fires,” explained Gondo.
While Zibagwe has had a clean record on fire cases, it has not been the same elsewhere.
According to EMA’s provincial planning and monitoring officer, William Berekwa, who is also credited for initiating training of villagers in Zibagwe, almost 100,000 hectares of land have been burned in other areas since July. Only last month, three members of the same family died in Chiodza village, Chirumanzu after they were trapped in a veld fire. The fourth one was severely injured and is still critically ill in Gweru General Hospital. In the Lalapansi district, property worth $11,400 was also lost at one farm after a fire destroyed valuable assets including a tractor and four tonnes of stocked maize.
“We are really grateful and encouraged by the achievement of the people of Zibagwe in preventing and combating fires. They have shown that veld fires can really be stopped in this country. We are planning to honour them with an award and we hope that other districts will follow their example,” Berekwa said.