fire suppression

The objective is to keep them small, controlling them before they cause injury to the public or seriously damage property and resources. This requires initial attack strategies and tactics to control or contain fires in the safest, most efficient and cost-effective manner. Initial attack is deemed successful when the fire is contained before it can outstrip the locally available fire fighting resources.

Large, uncontrolled fires are a national problem. This can be due to errors or failures in performance in making a successful initial attack on the fire, and should be addressed using the Incident Command System. This command system can be adapted to fit any type or size of incident, whether it is a veld fire, flood or riot. If the ICS is not implemented correctly, the initial attack errors are followed by similar containment failures at later stages, resulting in missed opportunities to control the fire at a lower level of damage or costs than finally incurred.

Pooling and deploying resources through a co-ordinated national network is a proven efficiency and cost saving strategy. The great strength of building a national network is the reduced number of resources that are needed to supply an efficient and affordable service. Hand in hand with this, is the importance of strategic and co-ordinated management of aerial and land based resources to affect rapid initial attack. The effectiveness of the initial attack can ultimately determine the magnitude of a wildfire.

Working on Fire operates helicopters, fixed wing bombers and spotter aircraft in conjunction with our national partners. These aerial resources are co-ordinated locally, provincially and nationally, forming a pool available to support ground forces with initial attack actions. Spotter aircraft play a vital role in firefighting and are used as a control platform for Incident Commanders as well as controlling and directing ground resources, and fire bombing aircraft.

After a fire has been contained, the Working on Fire ground crews go over the area to ensure that all burning and smouldering material is extinguished, in order to prevent the fire re-igniting. This is called "mopping up" and it is a critical element of successful fire suppression.