Fire crew busy with two fires in one day
"No structural damage or human injuries have been reported so far."
Firefighters had their hands full in Brakpan on Saturday after the town suffered two blazes with the Dismart shop along Voortrekker Road and the Weltevreden landfill site both in flames.
The latter engulfed the town in a cloud of smoke even after the fire was contained. It is believed the fire at the landfill site started around midday.
According to City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, preliminary investigations point to the Plastic City informal settlement as the possible source of the fire at Weltevreden.
“The fire is well contained, even though the strong winds are propelling it. Plastic City is the mecca of informal recycling activities in the Brakpan area and many waste-collecting trucks prefer to dump waste at Plastic City as opposed to the Weltevreden landfill site due to costs thereof,“ he said on Monday.
“No structural damage or human injuries have been reported so far.”
He added that the municipality apologises for the inconvenience caused and pleaded with motorists to drive with caution when passing through Main Reef Road in and out of Brakpan.
As for the fire at Dismart, William Ntladi, district manager media liaison for Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services, told the Herald the blaze started around 06:30.
“When firefighters arrived, the shop was well alight,” he said.
A fleet of fire engines from Brakpan, Tsakani, Springs and Benoni Central helped extinguish the fire. There were 24 firefighters on scene.
Ntladi added that the cause of this fire has not yet been determined and will be investigated.
