Recycling firm goes up in flames
Five machines, one forklift and four machines used for recycling material, were completely burned out.
A recycling firm in Chloorkop was destroyed after a massive fire broke out on Sunday night.
It was the second devastating fire in Kempton Park in less than a week. Last week a family home in Van Riebeeck Park burned down.
Also read:
• WATCH: Blaze destroys family home in Van Riebeeck Park
Mei Recycling on Vaseur Road was engulfed in flames which not only damaged most of the building but also destroyed machinery at the factory.
According to the supervisor, John Ali, the fire apparently started at about 7pm on Sunday. Luckily no employees were at the premises at the time and they were alerted by security in the area.
“The owner of the firm was here until 3am,” Ali said on Monday morning.
The fire department dispatched to the scene worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames.
Ryno Opperman from MML Security and Wiekus van Vollenstee from SSS were also on the scene on Sunday to assist with fighting the blaze. MML was alerted after someone from security pressed a panic button and they immediately dispatched vehicles to the scene.
“We left the scene just before 10pm but the fire was still not out,” Opperman said.
Ali showed EXPRESS what remained of the structure on Monday morning. He pointed out the wrecked equipment. Five machines – one forklift and four machines used for recycling material – were completely destroyed.
“Those machines are extremely expensive,” Ali added.
Firemen were on the scene again on Monday to extinguish a small fire that was still burning. They had to break through a burnt door in order to gain access to the centre of the building where the remaining flames were.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
The owner of the company could not be reached at the time of going to print.
