About Us

The KZNFPA started out as the Natal Midlands Fire Protection Association. (NMFPA) The NMFPA was formed in 1954 due to a need for co-ordinated forest fire fighting in the Natal Midlands, resulting from devastating runaway fires in the Cramond plantations.

The concept was initiated by the late John Hickson, an ex WW 2 Air Force navigator who, while stationed in Port Elizabeth awaiting demobilization, assisted the local fire department in setting up a communications chain in order to contain uncontrolled fires which had been burning for days in the area and which had got completely out of hand. John, who was from Pietermaritzburg, was a director of an accounting company called Hickson & Co. He was confined to a wheelchair (reason unknown) He ran the Association with volunteer help from members of the General Committee from a room in his home in Tanner Road, Wembley until the day he died in 1979.

John, being ex South African Air force, was much in favour of utilizing aircraft in forest fire fighting but monetary constraints seemed to be the fly in the ointment. Fire Hazard forecasting, based on the measurement of moisture content of weighed, oven dried fuel samples was introduced by John. This system was refined with fuel moisture meters being placed in strategic positions in plantations and read twice daily. The reading together with other parameters were then applied to a nomograph and a fire hazard index derived.

In July 1979 Harry Warr took over the running of the Association. Offices were rented in Shepstone House, Longmarket Street. An office structure was set up from scratch and a radio network installed to cover the area of operations. A roster system of Timber Company management personnel was established. These people were called in to man radios and telephones and to plot fires on wall maps.

Operations consisted of liaison between members needing assistance with runaway fires and those able to assist.

Members comprised of the major timber growers who provided the funding of the Association based on their total planted areas. Annual subscriptions were also received from interested Farmers Associations and donations from instances such as S.A. Wattle Growers Union, N.C.T and various insurance companies.

During 1978 Sappi Forests in KwaZulu Natal took the initiative to start using aircraft to bomb forest fires, up until 1980 the aircraft were based in Bethlehem and used on an ad-hoc basis during dangerous fire weather conditions. 500gal Turbo thrush aircraft were used. The first contract was allocated in 1980 for one 500gal Turbo Thrush. The aircraft was based at Shafton plantation and was flown by Brent Hansen. In 1981 three piston engined Bull Thrushes were placed on contract and again based at Shafton. These aircraft were found to be unsuitable and were replaced by Turbo Thrushes after the second month of the Season. A Spotter aircraft was contracted to assist the Bombers.

In 1980 Natal Midlands Fire Protection Association moved its operation to Oribi airport, contracted a spotter aircraft and started aerial patrols and assisted the bomber aircraft.

After it became obvious that aircraft reduced the size of fires and the timber losses other timber growers became involved. The Natal Midlands Fire Protection Association accepted the task of Co-ordinating aircraft and producing a system of levies to cover the cost of the aircraft.

In 1982 the aircraft moved their base from Shafton to Oribi Airport Pietermaritzburg. The fleet of Bombers and Spotters steadily grew as the membership of the Association increased. In 1984 Sappi Forests in the Eastern Transvaal also adopted Aerial Fire fighting and the system, in that area, developed along the same lines as KwaZulu Natal.

The Timber growers in the Piet Retief and Usuthu Forest areas started using Bombers in 1986. These aircraft were contracted from Rautenbach Aerial and were based on plantation in Usuthu and at Piet Retief.

The Zululand Timber growers formed the Kwambonambi Fire Protection Committee on the 17th February 1954 at 2.30pm. The Chairman was Mr. L.C.M Rattray and the vice Chairman was Mr. P.V. van Breda. This Fire Protection Committee became the Zululand Fire Protection Association (ZFPA) in 1989. The Zululand Inland Fire Protection Associations (ZIFPA) growers were initially members of the ZFPA. In 1990 the ZIFPA was formed as it was felt that the two areas had different needs with regards to fires, due to the difference in climate, topography and vegetation.

In 1989 Sappi Forests again took the lead and introduced aerial fire fighting to this area. During these developing years airstrips were constructed throughout the Plantations to decrease turn-around times. The majority of these airstrips were built and maintained by Sappi Forests, who were the leaders in Aerial Fire Fighting.

At this time it was found that at least one Bomber was needed to cover 20,000 hectares of timber and one Spotter could cover 40,000 hectares. It was also proven that no less than two bombers should be dispatched to any fire. The importance of well-trained ground crews to support aircraft was also highlighted.

In 1993/4 large Russian helicopters became available to the Fire Associations. These helicopters have the ability to move large volumes of water. They were heavily promoted by the Fire Associations in the Midlands and Eastern Transvaal.

Due to the growth of the Association, Denise Bouwer was contracted, in 1997, to assist with the administration of the Association. Denise has now become an intrical part of the operation and manages all admin issues.

In 1998 Jake Oosthuizen (Zululand Fire Protection Services) was contracted to the KZNFPA as the Operations Manager and was succeeded on the 1st November 2004 by Simon Thomas.

At present Helicopters are used in KwaZulu Natal as backup to the faster fixed wing bombers. Helicopters play an important role in fire fighting operations and also have the ability to provide logistical support. In areas where there are no airstrips the helicopters are indispensable.