Firefighters rotate every 4 hours battling PMB’s dump inferno

Working with Fire communication’s officer Nompilo Zondi told Capital Newspapers that toxic fumes and high heat levels mean staff have to be rotated frequently.

“We have been working in shifts with Msunduzi uMgungundlovu and eThekweni fire teams. Fifteen more of our fighters arrived this morning to relieve the night efforts. Yesterday was really bad and we are hoping for better conditions today,” said Zondi.

It may take several days to fully extinguish this week’s devastating fire at the landfill site in New England Road, say experts.

Yesterday Capital Newspapers spoke to several exhausted fire fighters who described conditions as “horrendous and hellish”.

“This is a deeply embedded inferno. At the surface, it is spewing dark clouds of poisonous gases. When you’re in there, it feels like it is night – the sun is completely blocked. And, as you get nearer, you feel the full force of the radiating heat. You can only work at the frontline for short periods before retreating; that is why we need the heavy machinery to support us. It’s definitely going to take a few days for us to get to the bottom and conduct a deep extinguish,” said one of the firemen resting at the neighbouring Umgeni Water site.

The city was left choking yesterday as dense smoke engulfed several suburbs around the dump, including Hayfields, Cleland, Scottsville and Sobantu.

The crisis could not have come at a worse time with city hospitals and doctors under strain from the surge in Covid-19 cases and health experts warning that the toxic fumes posed an “acute respiratory distress” risk for those with heart and lung problems, particularly children and the elderly suffering from asthma.