Warning issued after veld fire in riverbed in Hochland Park

Residents of Windhoek are being urged to take precautionary measures as veld fire season approaches.

This comes after a veld fire broke out in a riverbed in Windhoek’s Hochland Park residential area on Saturday.

Senior Station Officer Masule Mayanga, from the City of Windhoek’s fire brigade department, in an interview with Nampa emphasised the need for residents to be proactive in safeguarding their properties during this period, which typically occurs between July and October.

He said the fire brigade received a call around 14h23 on Saturday reporting the veld fire, prompting an immediate dispatch of firefighters to the scene. Besides a palm tree in the yard of a private residence catching fire, no further damage to properties was reported.

Mayanga emphasised the importance of residents taking preventive measures by clearing a three-meter perimeter of grassland around their households to minimise the risk of their properties catching fire during a veld fire outbreak.

“We cannot rule out what caused it… but of course we believe a human factor is involved. We managed to protect one house where a palm tree caught fire. The estimated veld fire damage of the riverbed is probably 300 metres or so,” he said.

Mayanga also mentioned that some residents take it upon themselves to burn riverbeds to discourage criminals from hiding in those areas, noting that the CoW disaster risk management unit does random riverbed de-bushing, despite limited resources.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency