Fire Fighting Course: Safety Measures and Protection for Farms and Rural Areas

This article discusses the benefits of enrolling in a fire fighting course to learn safety measures for farms. We will also cover prevention methods that are needed to protect farmlands and rural areas in South Africa from fire damage.

In South Africa, many of our towns are surrounded by farmlands and rural areas that are at a high risk of fire damage. These areas cover large spaces where veld fires often run wild, causing devastating effects. If you are a farm owner or live on a large piece of land you will know an uncontrolled fire can be your worst nightmare.

During dry seasons, farmlands are often most at risk of fire, and many barns along with kilometres of crops are lost every year. Farm fires can also be extremely dangerous to people living and working on these farms, and entire family livelihoods are often in danger when the situation isn't handled correctly. Read further to learn the importance of taking a course to protect your land.

Benefits of a fire fighting course to protect your farm:

Being prepared is the best way to protect yourself and your farm from a wildfire, and the best way to get prepared is to have the necessary training. Enrolling in an Emcare fire fighting course will prepare you for any type of fire danger. Emcare offers basic fire fighting training as well as a more advanced firefighting course. Even enrolling in the basic 1-day fire fighting course will enable you to take the best precautions possible, and help you to fight fire safely and effectively.

The following are a few benefits of enrolling in a fire fighting course:

• Completing a fire fighting course allows you to protect yourself and your employees from danger.
• You will learn how to effectively use fire fighting equipment to prevent fires.
• You will learn how to contain and control a fire properly.
• You will be able to put all necessary precautions in place to lessen fire damage.
• Know how to properly extinguish fires using a fire extinguisher.
• Know how to care for wounded people and deal with the aftermath of a fire.
• Overall protection and safety measures.

Fire fighting course: How to protect your farm from a fire hazard:

The bigger your farm or piece of land, the more difficult it can be to protect from wildfires. As a landowner, the best way to protect your land is to ensure you have all the necessary precautions in place at all times. These precautions are thoroughly explained in the Emcare fire fighting course, but the following are some effective tips you can follow to prevent a deadly fire from spreading across your land.

1. Create a fire break around your property
   
   A fire break is your first line of defence against a fire spreading across your land. Fire breaks are gaps with no vegetation or fuel for fires between your land and its surroundings. They can be both natural and man-made. Natural fire breaks are made up of things like rivers, canyons, or natural springs, and man-made fire breaks are usually dug up using tractors, removing any flammable vegetation surrounding your land.
   
   Fire breaks are mandatory for certain landowners to comply with government regulations, and need to be maintained effectively. They can’t completely protect you from a fire, and even the most well-kept fire break can let a fire through. But they are extremely important in containing fire and can be highly effective when accompanied by other fire fighting methods.
   
   Backburning is another way to increase the effectiveness of your firebreak. This means starting a small, controlled fire along your man-made firebreak to reduce the amount of fuel available when a wildfire reaches this area.
   
   
2. Create a fire fighting plan with other farmers in your area
   
   Collaboration and good communication are the best ways to prevent a fire from losing control. Farming communities who work together often stand a better chance against fires. It’s good to continuously update your fire fighting plan and be ready to help one another when the emergency arises, the more manpower and equipment available the better. Using WhatsApp groups and radios to communicate are great ways to stay in touch.
   
   
3. Prioritise maintenance of your equipment
   
   Investing in the correct fire fighting equipment suitable for your farm can make all the difference. You need to ensure that you have enough equipment available and at the ready in case of fire emergencies. Some basic and necessary equipment includes the following:
   
   
   • Leather gloves and boots.
   • Fire extinguishers suitable to be mounted on tractors and vehicles.
   • Necessary fire hoses and fittings.
   • Available water sources to fight fires.
   
   You also need to maintain your agricultural equipment as they can act as potential fire starters. Ensure your machinery is checked often and is working as it should. No exhaust systems should be leaking, and unused machinery should be emptied of fuel. Keep track of electrical components and replace them if they are faulty or worn.
   

4. Limit machinery usage on high-risk days
   
   Using farm machinery on days when the risk of a fire is high can be dangerous and increase the chance of a fire starting on your land. It’s best to limit this usage and wait for safer days with less heat and wind. Farmers should be extremely careful when welding and doing maintenance around the farm. Any kind of grinding or cutting machinery that causes sparks can start a fire before you know it.
   
   
5. Train workers and staff properly with a fire fighting course
   
   If you have workers and staff on your land, they need to be properly educated about the dangers of fires and fire hazards. Enrolling your management staff in a firefighting course is the best way to ensure they have all the necessary skills to protect themselves and each other against a wildfire.
   

6. Ensuring everyone on your land is properly trained with a fire fighting course, ensures the prevention of fire hazards. Staff need to be properly trained in using hazardous machinery and flammable substances safely. There should also be adequate storage to store all hazardous materials.
   
   These are just a few steps to take to prevent a fire from destroying the infrastructure on your land and protecting residents and workers. Emcare fire fighting course will equip you with all the necessary skills to carry out these responsibilities.