Bush fires

Submitted by Marcel Stieber

Bush fires are a constant danger to the airfield, especially during the dry season. Regular readers of the blog may recall previous mentions of the fires to the east of the airfield that got pretty close to the hangers and fuel depot. Careful management of our resources and the surrounding vegetation is what kept us safe.

Earlier this week we again saw the familiar plume of smoke across the airfield, this time it was close enough to warrant an investigation. We discovered a blazing bush fire just beyond the fence line for our cross runway that was burning, unattended, in the mango farm next door. Fortunately, our well maintained perimeter road stopped the fire from crawling onto our property, but we were sure to keep a close eye on it throughout the day until it burned out.

Bush fires are a natural part of the ecological system in the bush and are necessary to reduce excess growth and dangerous fuel loads on the area. Unburned areas are exceptionally dangerous when they do burn since they will be very large and uncontrollable. Careful management of our property through mowing and cutting back growth in our safety areas is critical to maintaining a safe airfield. Occasionally a controlled burn is needed on the field to prevent neighboring fires from jumping the fence line and damaging the operating areas of the airfield.

In the light of day......

This morning, we can see the blackened swathes and are glad that the winds did not change... the worst of the fire passed within 200m of the fence line, some backburned all the way onto the grass road. Fortunately, our new stone road behind the fuel depot and hangars gave us a lot of confidence. We will probably have to set a fire to clear the wedge of unburt shrublands that remains. Failure to manage this area will only lead to bigger fires in the future. We will wait for a gentle wind from the west and aim to clear these 40 or 50 acres within a week.

Furthermore, we are aware of the need to preventive burn other areas on the airfield - it is better to control when things burn - when we are all awake and aware, than to have a surprise in the middle of the night....

Thanks to the many of you who expressed your concerns. These fires will continue around us for the next few weeks until the next rains arrive in late September/early October...

Flames on our doorstep

I am standing at the fence line watching a fierce bush fire head for the airfield. This is the first time I am relatively calm about this seasonal menace.

Even though we now have mains water to the site, and have installed a series of ' fire points' along the fence line, today the mains is off. Not good.

Fortunately we have 3000 litres of reserve, albeit at low pressure.

However, through a great deal of effort we also have now a cleared area providing a barrier of a minimum 5 m/ 18' and all the areas around buildings on the airfield side are short cropped.

This is the minor dry season, so it is not as fierce as the february fires. The symphony of crackling grasses, exploding branches and seed pods coupled with smoke filled sky splattered with yellow and red glowing is almost beautiful when you are well prepared.

Sadly many will lose their crops and other valuable items in these fires. Our thoughts go out to our neighbours as we watch and manage our site at this time.