A SHORT HOME-FIRE INCIDENT I EXPERIENCED
We used to have a kraal roofed with thatched grass - where we only kept all the goats, sheep and young calves during the night. Those were the days we were still kids. I remember one morning we went to milk the cows with my father. While driving the young calves out of the kraal, my brother got stung by a wasp on his forehead.
All along, we were not aware that the wasps had also built their stable habitat on the lower plate wall of the thatched roof. We didn’t fight back instantly; soon after milking the cows – we ran back home, located at most 120 meters from the kraal. All we wanted was to collect a burning wood to punish these wasps. When we want to eliminate wasps at a certain place, we normally used a long stick remove their nests and this will cause the insects to relocate. This time we really wanted a vicious weapon to effectively revenge our enemy.
This was our own battle so we didn’t notify our parents and we also made sure to keep it our secret. Successfully, we managed to burn our enemy’s habitat. Unfortunately we didn’t know an unseen fire-spark was developing an atomic bomb beneath the packed thatched grass. In no time, a visible small fire emerged.
Don’t forget our goats, sheep and other calves were still under the same thatched roof. We tried to suppress the fire by wet dung, but the bomb was too powerful for three little kids. When soldiers finally realise they can’t win the battle, they quickly retreat. Likewise, we retreated and we ran for our lives and hid in the nearby bush.
We never thought of opening the kraal’s entrance to let the poor livestock out or calling for assistance. We were just watching how the fire was consuming the thatched roof. We could hear the cry of goats due to the heat, but none of us got the nerve to rescue the poor creatures.
Fortunately, there was a rescuer along the road; that was Thempson – our neighbor who was on his way to the shops. Upon seeing the kraal on fire, he quickly paved way to let the livestock out. After that, he then called my father and everyone to come with buckets full of water. Those who were nearby also came running; it was no longer a secret because of the dense smoke which was originating from the battle we had started. They tried the best they could, although the fire had already done much damage.
Obviously they knew we had started the fire because we wanted to destroy the wasps, l could hear my father’s voice asking where we were and softly we even retreated far away from the spot. After about an hour, we then featured at home with our pockets full of nhunguru (wild fruit-type) and we acted as if we didn’t know what had happened. And no one found the energy to discipline us. They knew for sure we didn’t have the intention to burn the roof instead we had a very good cause to eliminate an environmental harm which would also have stung anyone besides my little brother, but we only did it the wrong way. Although we didn’t get our fair treat – that day l learnt good lessons l'm still valuing to this day.
- Let fire be the last resort to control whatever it is. We could have employed a user friendly means to eliminate the wasps
- Don’t just rush to start a fire before assessing the environmental impacts it will cause and also make sure you have effective means to manage the fire.
- A tiny spark can put the whole forest or house on fire, don’t under-estimate that, and
- Before leaving the fireplace, make sure the fire is completely out; be sure there isn’t even a tiniest spark still surviving. Just be sure the fire is completely out, l repeat!!. This is where everything went otherwise for us – we didn’t check out our fire. Imagine what we could have lost – 3 calves, 13 sheep and over 25 goats!!
- Don’t hesitate to call for help
- ….what else can you add???