A tűzvédelmi szövetségek (FPA) hatékonyságának értékelése erdőtüzek esetén a Dél-afrikai Köztársaság Észak-Fokföldi tartományában

Abstract

It is often said that, “Fire is a bad master but a good servant.” Countries all over the world are challenged by devastating fires, which force them to develop strategies and tactics to minimise and prevent veld and forest fires. Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) are organisations established for veld firefighting in communities. FPAs are the South African way of community based fire management initiatives. This study investigated the effectiveness of FPAs in veld fire management in the Northern Cape Province as mandated by the South African National Veld and Forest Fire Act (NVFFA), 101 of 1998. The focus was on preparedness by FPAs to prevent and mitigate veld fires in this very volatile province of South Africa. Using the Disaster Preparedness Framework by Kent (1994) and the South Africa Integrated Fire Management Framework, the study adopted a qualitative research approach and was descriptive in design. Questionnaires with open-ended questions were administered to 19 out of the 25 FPAs in the province and 76 participants were involved. The study concluded that despite many challenges faced by FPAs in the province, these organisations play a critical role in firefighting and the FPAs have always minimise the impacts of veld fires in their areas of operations.