Pilanesberg Fires

[stefan9]

Very sad. Do we know how it started?

[Lisbeth]

Only where for the time being

It seems the fire started on the outside of the Park in the North and continued throughout most of the Wilderness area and continued South towards the Centre of the Park and is currently continuing to Kwa Maritane Lodge.

Mankwe Hide has burned down completely.

[Richprins]

"The reserve is bordered by community members all around. One of the community members who was cleaning their yard decided to burn some rubble. The wind blew and directed the fire to the reserve‚" said Maoka. This was on Saturday.

[Lisbeth]

Sound reasonable

[Flutterby]

Pilanesberg National Park & Wildlife TrustLike Page
13 hrs ·
MEDIA STATEMENT FROM NORTH WEST PARKS BOARD:

PILANESBERG FIRES AUGUST SEPTEMBER 2018
Pieter Nel - Acting Chief Conservation Officer
North-West Parks Board

3rd September 2018

On Saturday morning 1st September 2018, a fire entered Pilanesberg Nature Reserve in North West
Province from the north of the reserve. The fire burnt through the central parts of the reserve
towards the southern boundary. The fire was unfortunately fueled by a strong wind which picked up
over the weekend. As a result, certain areas burnt very intensely. The fire spread to the east and the
area known as the wilderness area burnt down completely. The fire was fought over three days by
the Pilanesberg rangers with huge support by staff from the internal lodges. Fire teams from as far
as Buffelspoort near Mooinooi and Rustenburg also came to help.
An area of between 15 000 and 18 000ha in the reserve was burnt.

The reserve’s fire policy is mostly
aimed at managing fuel levels, and fortunately some early block burns have been done by Park
management over the past 2 months. This greatly reduced the intensity of the fire in certain areas,
and also provide fire breaks.

Little damage was done to park infrastructure. Unfortunately, the well-known and very popular
Mankwe hide was completely destroyed, but lodges like Ivory tree and Bakgatla and picnic sites like
Fish-Eagle suffered no damage.

Early on Monday morning 3rd September, a helicopter was used to do an extensive assessment of
the extent of the fire and possible damage to infrastructure. Although a large area has burnt, large
pockets of vegetation inside these areas have not burned. The fire was stopped in areas with low
fuels and along roads sides, and due to changing wind direction, the fire fizzled out in these areas.
This left large areas inside the bigger fire unburnt, into which animals could move to escape the fire.

It needs to be emphasized that animals on the continent have been living with fire for thousands of
years, and they know exactly the dangers of fires and how to avoid getting caught in a veld fire.
During the flight this morning, no injured animals were seen, and also no animals in any immediate
danger. In fact, some animal already moved into the burnt areas to feast on the roast twigs. We also
saw some zebra and kudu close to the fire, not very perturb about the fire, leisurely grazing away.

The fire fighting teams now focuses on containing the fire along some of the roads. The fire should
be contained by the end of the day. Follow-up monitoring and search for possible injured animals
will also continue.

The total area burnt to date, including the block burns, is approximately 50% of the park. The veld in
the blocks initially burnt is already greening up nicely.

Park management doesn’t foresee any feed
problems and the animals should still have ample to feed on. As mentioned, large areas inside the
burnt area have not burnt, providing enough feeding reserves until well into the growing season.

The North-West Parks Board and in particular Pilanesberg Park management would like to thank
everyone involved in fighting the fire. Certain organizations offered the staff and equipment,
numerous people helped with beating fires, and some people assist the fire teams with water and
other support.

The support was overwhelming and greatly reduced the danger. The messages of support from the public through public media is also acknowledged and greatly appreciated!

[Lisbeth]

Apart from the physical damage the fire is going to cost a lot in the form of loss of profit from entrance fees. Who is going to a park where 50% of the wilderness area is burnt On the other hand it might be easier to spot animals

[Richprins]

Last time round animals did indeed get burned badly, though, so not sure they are always capable of escaping?

[Dzombo]

Last time round animals did indeed get burned badly, though, so not sure they are always capable of escaping?

I think last time a lot of elephants were badly burnt
A herd got trapped between the flames and the fence.