By: Hertha Ekandjo

The environment ministry reported that Namibia had been experiencing severe fire incidents since the start of the fire season, which occurs annually from April to December when the vegetation is dry.

The ministry noted that from April 2022 to 15 September 2022, a total of 920 944 hectares (ha) had been burned, including forests, shrub/bush and grassland in various regions.

According to the ministry`s spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, two people sustained severe injuries from the fire.

“Unfortunately, one person succumbed due to his injuries. A deplorable incident, the ministry extends condolences to the bereaved family and wishes the family strength with losing their loved one,” said Muyunda.

Muyunda stated that veld fires were recorded in nine regions with regions burned recorded; Kavango East over 475 000 ha, Otjozodjupa more than 228 000 ha, Zambezi 148 892 ha, Hardap19 937 ha, Erongo 14 114 ha, Kavango West 10 968 ha, Kunene 7 756 ha, Khomas 7 106 ha and Oshikoto 6 581 ha.

According to the spokesperson, the ministry’s fire preparedness activities included measures to manage veld fires through prevention and suppression, community outreach programs, education and awareness, and stakeholder engagement meetings.

“Furthermore, we have also been engaged in developing and maintaining fire breaks. To this effect, the government has cleared 328 km of fire breaks across the country to date,” expressed Muyunda.

Moreover, he clarified that the ministry`s interventions included farmer’s training on fire management, charcoal production guidelines issued, early burning in national parks countrywide to reduce the fuel load before the fire season, early burning in community forests and training of community members, servicing of available firefighting vehicles and equipment as well as procurement and distribution of firefighting equipment to the regions through the Directorate of Forestry.

The ministry emphasized that fire can be destructive if not used responsibly as it destroys and causes damage to our properties and infrastructure, loss of wildlife and livestock, severe environmental damage, and loss of lives.

“Thus, we call upon landowners and the public, in general, to assist in preventing unwanted veld fires as well as to participate in firefighting,” the ministry noted.

Muyunda further advised parents not to allow their children to use fires without supervision and people using fires for domestic purposes such as cooking, heating, and camping to ensure that fires are extinguished afterwards.

“Before starting a fire, check the surroundings to assess the risk (flammable materials, wind speed) of burning beyond the intended area. Prevent preventative measures to prevent the fire from spreading to unintended places. Smokers should kill their cigarette stumps completely and not throw them away,” said Muyunda.

In August, veld fires around Windhoek ravaged 2 000 hectares of Land in three days and continued to rage at Avis Dam.

Rehoboth experienced a devastating veld fire that took approximately two days last month. The fires started on Wednesday, 14 September, for the first time, destroying over 22 000 hectares of grazing and injuring two victims, one being the mayor of Rehoboth, Enrico Junius and Quinton Diergaardt. They were airlifted to Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.

Diergaardt recently passed away after sustaining 100% burn wounds.

In 2020 Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta said Namibia recorded 42 veld fires between one-week 23-30 September 2020.

At that time, Shifeta said the most affected regions were Kavango East, Kavango West, Otjozondjupa, Oshikoto, Zambezi, Ohangwena, Kunene, Oshana, Omusati and Omaheke.

According to Shifeta, from January to October 2020, 220 100ha were burned in the Zambezi, 635 900ha in Kavango East; 181 700ha in Kavango West, 8900ha in Ohangwena, 23 800ha in Omusati,12 200 in Oshana, 86 800ha in Oshikoto, 10 100ha in Kunene, 875 400ha in Otjozondjupa, 161 100ha in Omaheke and 2000ha in Khomas region.