Parapara Makgahlela
Working on Fire programme’s team in Magaliesberg has recently embarked on 20 kilometer route march in preparation for the upcoming fire season yellow card assessment.
According to Suzan Moruntshi a crew member, the purpose of the route march was to test fitness of the fire fighters in the Magaliesberg team.
‘’It was hard exercise but it was worth doing because we are conserving and caring for our environment especially here in Magalieberg’’ said Suzan.
‘’When you fight veld and forest fires you need to be physically fit because we sometimes walk long distances where fires will be ravaging vegetation’’ she explained.
‘’Part of our exercise was to carry and walk with all fire equipment. We carry knapsacks of 20 liters of water, rake-hoes, sleeping bags, bottle waters and the fire beaters. These are the equipment we use during the fire season’’ she said.
She further said that in the past they had fires that last more than three days.
‘’We had to be there and fight fire until they are extinguished. Therefore part of the route march was to test our characters for such calls’’ told Suzan.
‘’We exchanged knapsacks between ladies and gentlemen on the way, because they are quite heavy especially on hills’’ explained Suzan
‘’We sang to lifted up our spirits and keep the team going. We work as a team because it is key to our success when doing work. The route march lasted for four and half-hours’’ she quipped.
Sipho Ntuli a crew leader said that the area is affected by veld fires every year, therefore it was important that they prepare for any eventualities in this year’s fire season.
‘’We are 21 crew members. We enjoy fighting fires in the bush. We were testing the endurance of crew members. The hills were steep and hard to climb’’ said Sipho.
Said Sipho ‘’an exercise helped the new crew members who have never been to a fire line. This serves as a morale boaster amongst the crew members. It got hard when we were coming back from the veld’’.