Rolfes Chemicals, in the Germiston South Industrial area, was engulfed by fire, with one man hospitalised for injuries.

The man was admitted to Netcare Alberton Hospital following a massive structural fire, resulting in him suffering second-degree burns.

On the afternoon of February 19, while a truck was delivering material, a fire broke out. Staff immediately triggered the emergency response number.

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The Germiston Fire Department arrived promptly and immediately called for backup from other stations.

City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) spokesperson William Ntladi said that emergency services responded to a large-scale fire at a chemical factory on Strachan Road. Authorities immediately evacuated residents and workers in the surrounding area due to safety concerns.

He said that once authorities arrived on the scene, they had to evacuate all personnel and staff within a radius of approximately 500m from the factory.

“We had to make sure that we contained the fire so that it did not spread to nearby factories. With multiple explosions occurring one after another, members had to take precautions, as the exact chemicals stored at the site remained unknown until a later stage.

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“Some of the surviving containers had labels indicating that they contained sulphuric acid, a highly corrosive material.

“Several gas tankers and large chemical trucks were also present on the premises, raising concerns about the volatility of the materials.

“We have highly trained personnel within the city. We treated this incident as a disaster, establishing one command post on Railway Street,” said Ntladi.

Emergency teams continued to monitor the situation and worked to contain the fire.

Ntladi added that the company is surrounded by manufacturing factories and chemical companies, which made the situation even more concerning.

“Defensively, exposures were protected as flames were prevented from spreading.

“Challenges experienced at the scene included continuous detonations as metal containers became heated. Firefighting teams worked defensively to protect a recycling company adjacent to Rolfes Chemicals, as well as other businesses in the neighbourhood, from possible ignition.

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“When the evacuations took place, streets around the company had to be temporarily closed to prevent any movement of both vehicles and pedestrians.

“Preliminary information indicates that an undisclosed, highly volatile chemical ignited due to sparking while it was being offloaded into tanks from a truck.

“The fire was finally extinguished, and teams began damping down operations (cooling off all hot spots). Environmental teams then took over the scene,” said Ntladi.

These fires are concerning, as there was recently another blaze on Railway Street, where a tyre company caught fire while a truck was delivering fuel.

According to DEMS, oil believed to be diesel flowed from the burning property into the stormwater system, igniting flames along its route and creating hazardous conditions in the surrounding area.