As the veld continues to thin and dry out, and unpredictable winds are expected in the coming months, fire safety has been at the core of field activities.
To increase awareness, a new Fire Danger Index (FDI) sign has been installed at the entrance gate, indicating daily FDI and pertinent braai fire safety restrictions in camp and on the reserve.
The FDI is a scale that predicts how fast wildfires can spread, how easily they can start, or how hard they may be to control should they occur, and is based on weather and environmental factors. Measurements such as daily temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, moisture content and rainfall history contribute to FDI predictions and index.
The new FDI sign is clearly visible as one enters through the Ingwelala gate. Please ensure that you remain up to date on the daily fire safety information displayed on this signboard when in residence. Changes to fire safety conditions are announced via radio and displayed at the entrance gate.
Manual firebreak clearing (manually thinning vegetation) continued throughout the month, while other efforts included continued widening and clearing of boundary roads, and thinning of vegetation around braai-making facilities on the reserve. Further, controlled burns of stack-piled materials were conducted to mitigate fire risk. With the current environmental conditions, the veld biomass remains high and new growth has been observed in various woody species. As such, vegetation has continued to grow throughout winter. This, combined with unpredictable and strong winds, necessitates extreme vigilance and continued follow-up clearing throughout the reserve for the foreseeable future.
Please use extreme caution when making any fires at any braai facilities, and ensure that all fires are adequately extinguished and further completely covered with the steel fire drum before leaving them unattended. Also ensure that you have a fire extinguisher present in your game viewer. Please report any signs of smoke or a fire immediately. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this regard.
Words by Tess Woollgar. Images courtesy of Aimee Langenhoven, Josh Hibbett and Tessa Woollgar