Soon after experienced game reserve manager Dave Powell (62) went out to fight a small but threatening uncontrolled veld fire on 3 September, he, his local community and medical professionals were fighting for his life.
By Lloyd Phillips, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
It was 35°C with 50km/h winds on that afternoon in early September when Dave Powell and two of his staff arrived to extinguish a comparatively small uncontrolled veld fire on traditional authority land adjacent to the Ven-Africa Private Game Reserve (Ven-Africa) in Zululand’s rural Mpunzana district.
The three men armed themselves with high-powered portable blowers and spread out over small distances to tackle the fire before it could enter and potentially rage through the Big Five game reserve’s 15 000ha.
For Powell, who already had numerous years’ experience with fighting runaway forest, bush and grass fires, it was meant to be all in a day’s work.
Also read: Game reserve manager critically injured by runaway fire
“I was in a little gully with my blower. The grass wasn’t particularly long and the flames weren’t especially big. I was climbing back out. As I reached the top, the wind suddenly turned and gusted like a little whirlwind. The flames that had been an orange-red colour were suddenly hot blue and on either side of me.
“I had nowhere to go except straight through the flames that I could feel were already scorching my legs, hands, arms and face. I just ran. As I got through and sat down, I already knew that from those 10 to 15 seconds that it all took, I was in trouble.”
Despite Powell’s dire situation, he and his two staff kept their heads. While the latter were hastily fetching Burnshield Hydrogel and water from Powell’s nearby bakkie as emergency first-aid treatments, he was wisely taking selfies of his scorched skin. He then made a distress call to the private NPG Community Safety Organisation (NPG Veiligheid) for Zululand’s Pongola district, within which Ven-Africa lies. He also messaged the selfies to NPG Veiligheid to give emergency responders a good indication of what they would be dealing with.
Tears of Gratitude, not Pain
As Powell candidly recounts his ordeal to African Farming, from his bed in the recovery ward of the hospital in which he has spent at least 84 consecutive days so far, not once does he directly reference the terrible agony that he has no doubt endured because of his injuries and the extensive treatment thereof. Instead, whenever his voice occasionally begins quivering and tears threaten to flow, it is when Powell is referring gratefully to the efforts of his rescuers, medical professionals and supporters.
No sooner had NPG Veiligheid broadcast its emergency call than the wheels of an extremely well-organised and efficient system sprang into action. Owners and managers of nearby game reserves raced to arrive first at the scene. Some began “pumping” drinking water into Powell to help stave off shock and others began fighting the now raging and much larger wildfire to open safe passage for the vehicles of the private IPSS Emergency Medical and Rescue Services.
Adrian Chaning-Pearce, chairperson of NPG Veiligheid, says conditions were so unpredictable that firefighters had their hands full chasing and extinguishing new flare-ups along the rugged path of the emergency services. Even paramedics were occasionally at risk while treating and extracting Powell.
Meanwhile, a Netcare 911 medevac helicopter had been called to collect Powell from a safe landing site not far from where he had been injured, and to then rush him to the Level 1 trauma facility at Netcare St Anne’s Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal’s capital city, Pietermaritzburg. The flight distance is approximately 240km, whereas by road it would have been about 390km and would have taken five-and-a-half hours.
Chaning-Pearce says from the time that Powell made his distress call to when the medevac helicopter departed with him, three hours had elapsed. It also took the local community members until the early hours of the following morning to finally bring the wildfire under control.
Kerryn, Powell’s wife, has been at his side since he was admitted to hospital on 3 September. She knows every detail of her husband’s injuries and treatments.
“They immediately put him into an induced coma for about three weeks and on a ventilator for about four weeks. Dave had deep burns across 30% of his body, mainly his legs, hands and arms. His face was scorched but, thankfully, not burnt.
“What happens because of the burns is that all the fluid in your body runs to the burn sites. So, your internal organs start to shut down. He was battling with respiratory failure. His kidneys began to fail and there was also toxic shock and sepsis from the burns.”
‘I nearly died more than once’
Powell adds: “The doctors tell me I nearly died a few times. I’ve had multiple surgical treatments to clean the burns, to do skin grafts and to change the dressings. I’m still on a low-GI (glycaemic index) diet and a renal diet because of the damage to my kidneys.”
Kerryn says Powell had to be brought out of his coma extremely slowly and carefully, and weaned off his strong pain medications, like morphine, and off his assisted breathing equipment.
Powell continues: “I remember parts of coming out of the induced coma and of coming off the medications. I’ve been told I was experiencing ICU [intensive care unit] delirium. I genuinely believed I was dead all that time. When I was conscious enough to start recognising Kerryn, I still didn’t believe she was real. I just thought it was somehow a part of my being dead. I had to be repeatedly convinced by various people that I wasn’t dead and that Kerryn and everyone else were real.”
Also read: How to assess and treat livestock after a veld fire
After spending so long initially immobilised and being confined to a bed in a small space after that, Powell says he is desperately missing things like sunshine, fresh air, “real food” and his faithful four-legged friend, Jess, a German hunting terrier. He says gratefully that Kerryn has – with permission from Powell’s dietician – been bringing in some occasional treats, like milkshakes.
Powell is scheduled to be transferred to a step-down facility in Durban sometime next week.
The Powells are immensely grateful to the numerous people who have helped and supported them through their distressing journey these past three months; all the rescuers and medical professionals, all the family, friends and other well-wishers who, each in their own way, have kept the hope – and Dave – alive.
He says: “So many heroes. God too has had a special hand in all of this. This has taught Kerryn and I to be grateful for every day and for those in front of and around us.
Also read: ‘Don’t be a cowboy in fire season!’
“I’ve also learnt that no matter how small an uncontrolled fire may seem, you must be 100% ready for it. All the right equipment, the right clothes, the right first-aid kit, the right safety precautions and the right emergency response network and systems. I’ve always been cautious with fire. Yet just a little bit of unexpected wind was still able to put me into an almost deadly situation.
“Those 10 to 15 seconds changed my life.”
Also read
From our editor: Veld fires expose the cost of disunity on communal land
Increase in veld fires threatens food prices and farm production costs
Concerns about further cuts to firefighting budget
