Since the start of the fire season in April, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism has recorded a total of 499,344 hectares destroyed by uncontrolled fires.

The public is called upon to take precautions when handling fires.

Namibia's fire season starts in April and ends in September.

Fires have caused massive damage to the environment and properties over the past few years.

The public, farmers, and property owners need to put measures in place to minimise the risks of veld fires.

"The country has not received so much rain over the past rainy season, but we are aware that there should be enough fuel load to ignite fires, so it is expected we will have field fires this season," warned the chief PRO at MEFT, Romeo Muyunda.

The ministry, says Muyunda, has activated the fire management systems to deal with outbreaks.

"We are also engaged in ensuring that we provide training to community members in terms of fire prevention. In terms of fire prevention measures, we are doing community awareness programmes to create awareness on fire prevention measures that we intend to implement and for different stakeholders to be prepared this fire season."

Prior to the fire season, the ministry had also been engaged in developing and managing firebreaks. It has completed 33 kilometres of firebreaks across the country.

Charcoal producers have also been urged to adhere to production guidelines.

In 2021, the country recorded three million hectares of land burned, compared to 2.4 million hectares burned last year.

Five people sustained serious injuries from last year's fires, and three have died.