MORE than 120 000 hectares of land were destroyed by veld fires in the Midlands province between July and October last year, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has said.

In an interview, EMA Midlands provincial education and publicity officer Mr Simon Musasiwa said the province was at a high risk of veld fires due to the abundance of inflammable material in the form of dense grass.

“The Midlands province lost 126 000 (2,6 percent) of the province’s land to veld fires due to the high amount of rainfall received,” he said.

“The fire risk prediction model for the 2018 fire season shows 40 percent of the country falling under the high risk category, a cause for concern for all those at risk of losing property and life to these uncontrolled fires.”

Mr Musasiwa said EMA was issuing fire orders in a move aimed at reducing fire incidences around the province.

“Due to these efforts, preparations for the 2018 veld fire season have already started in earnest with 12 fire awareness commemorations and 110 fire awareness meetings having been done, 40 school talk shows, 4 radio programmes having been aired, 600 fire guard orders having been served to farmers and property owners.