Civil Engineering March 2022 | Vol 30 No 2

62 March 2022 Civil Engineering We have and continue to see a number of high-profile public entity losses due to fire, the latest being the parliament building in Cape Town. Recent losses include hospitals (such as Charlotte Maxeke (2021), Christiana District (2021), Carletonville (2019), Bheki Mlangeni (2019), and Tambo Memorial (2015)); educational institutions (University of Cape Town and University of Stellenbosch); and other governmental facilities (Waterkloof Air Force Base and Bank of Lisbon building). Wildland urban interface fire safety Wildland urban interface (WUI) fires are causing massive damage worldwide. This is expected to continue increasing based on a number of factors: (a) climate change is leading to the conditions required for large wildland fires that can spread into towns, (b) the vegetation present in many areas of the country will allow for fire spread, (c) towns are expanding into rural areas resulting in more homes on the WUI, and (d) responding to WUI fires is complex in that multiple parties are involved. Currently, in line with other countries, South Africa is not ready to combat the ongoing challenge and threat that WUI fires pose to many towns. We are highly likely to see large numbers of homes being lost in the future. If areas such as California, which have significant resources, are struggling to cope with WUI fires, it is inevitable that resource-constrained countries will face even bigger challenges. As an example, Figure 7 shows damaged and destroyed homes in the town of Knysna after South Africa’s most destructive 1 800 1 600 1 400 1 200 1 000 800 600 0 Number of industrial fires Estimated loss (billions of Rands) 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 0 1 1 Years 2003 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Industrial fires Industrial losses Linear (industrial fires) Figure 5 Number of reported industrial fire incidents and estimated losses 400 200 Figure 6 Fire at the parliament building in Cape Town (Credit: (Left) Moloto Mothapo via Twitter; (Right) Nokukhanya Mntambo via Twitter) Currently, in line with other countries, South Africa is not ready to combat the ongoing challenge and threat that WUI fires pose to many towns.