The Sunday Mail
Priscilla Kamurira
The change in Zimbabwe’s weather patterns is likely to see most parts of the country facing the risk of runaway fires earlier than the anticipated July 31 mark, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has said.
Traditionally, most parts of the country experience high risks of veld fires between July 31 and October 31, but with the changing weather phenomena, experts predict that the fire danger period might start earlier and stretch beyond October.
EMA says runaway fires are usually a result of dry biomass, heat and wind.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, EMA education and publicity manager, Ms Amkela Sidange said the country should be on high alert for veld fires during this season.
“We want to encourage people to be on guard always and to also take note of the shift in the seasons, how earlier the grass dries and when the rain season begins,” she said.
“We took images of vegetation in March. We looked at the state of the vegetation and used it as a proxy of biomass. It appears that the country is more in the medium risk category at about 64 percent and 24 percent in the high risk category.”
Mrs Sidange said EMA had embarked on a countrywide programme to monitor fire control mechanisms that have been put in place.
She urged farmers to erect fireguards on their farms, adding that failure to do so constitutes an offence.
“lt is now a punishable offence for farmers not to have a standard fire guard surrounding their farms by July 31,” said Mrs Sidange.
“Farmers should have a total 18 metres clear area for the fire guard – nine metres should be within the farmland and another nine metres outside the boundary.”
Mrs Sidange encouraged farmers to reduce the levels of biomass on their farms.
She also called on traditional leaders to take tough measures against their subjects so that they adopt proper fire prevention mechanisms.
High fire risk zones in the country include Manicaland, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East provinces as well as Hwange, Gweru rural, Insiza and Lupane.
Last year, over one million hectares of vegetation were destroyed by veld fires that left five people dead.
However, last year’s fire season actually witnessed a reduction in inferno incidences with a total of 1 595 cases recorded, compared to 2 705 in 2017.
