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Walter Mswazie, Masvingo Correspondent
The Environmental Management Agency (Ema) has said the fire season started yesterday and warned people against starting veld fires to avoid the destruction of the environment.

Masvingo Ema provincial manager Mr Robson Mavondo said the fire season will run from July 31 up to October 31 when the first rains are expected.

He urged farmers to ensure that they have standard fireguards measuring at least nine metres wide on farm boundaries.

He said farmers should also ensure they have properly trained and equipped fire-fighting teams to extinguish veld fires as well as keep bowsers full throughout the fire season.

Mr Mavondo warned people against the use of open fires to smoke out bees or for hunting purposes. Smokers were urged not to recklessly dispose cigarette stubs. Mr Mavondo said smokers must completely extinguish the stubs before disposing them in a bin or ash tray.

He said in Masvingo, while the size of land burnt by veld fires in 2016 dropped significantly, farmers and members of the public should always continue to be careful this fire season.

“The area burnt by veld fires in Masvingo Province during the year 2016 dropped to 7 495,14 hectares as compared to 75 708,17 hectares burnt during the year 2015. This is a significant decrease in area burnt although property, forests, crops and livestock were affected in the process,” said Mr Mavondo.

“As Ema we continue to warn farmers and members of the public against starting veld fires.”

He said due to the fact that the country received a lot of rainfall last season, grass, trees and small bushes thrived thereby increasing the risks of veld fires.

“ A lot of vegetation thrived and increased fuel biomass in the form of grass, dead tree leaves and other small bushes. The fire risk prediction for 2017 in Masvingo province is high as compared to 2016 due to the availability of vast amounts of vegetation,” he said.

He said Ema is predicting many fires this year hence it is holding a number of awareness campaigns on fire suppression measures to be put in place in many areas especially in newly resettled farms.

“So far Ema has constructed three standard demonstration fireguards in three prone districts of Gutu, Masvingo and Chiredzi as we predict a lot of veld fires this year.

“We have launched thatching grass combing projects in Gutu and Masvingo. The projects have produced 300 bundles of thatching grass.

“Gutu and Masvingo are also in the process of doing hay baling,” he said.