Pikitup working around the clock to extinguish fire at landfill site

Pikitup, the waste management company of the City of Johannesburg, has reassured residents who live adjacent to the Robinson landfill site that the fire that is raging at the site is receiving urgent attention.

Pikitup has deployed two 10 cubic metre trucks, three 15 cubic metre tipper trucks and two ADT trucks – the last is the big trucks used in the mining project – as well as four two water tankers to fight the fire.

Johannesburg Emergency Services is also on board and has provided a further two water tankers.

Pikitup spokesperson Muzi Mkhwanazi said since the fire broke out on September 16, Pikitup employees, assisted by personnel from the Johannesburg Emergency Services, have been running 24-hour operations to extinguish the fire.

Efforts to extinguish the fire have also been negatively impacted by the windy weather conditions in the city.

However, the teams are doing everything possible to put out the fire as soon as possible. The reason for the outbreak of the fire is yet to be established.

“The fire extinguishing operations at the Robinson landfill site also include wetting and placing topsoil on the landfill site slopes and cleaning the illegal dumping spots adjacent to the site. Pikitup apologises to residents staying near the affected landfill site for the inconvenience caused and has committed to extinguishing it soon.

“As a result of the current fire outbreak at the Robinson site, Pikitup is putting contingency measures in place to ensure that the other landfill sites do not suffer the same fate.

“A two-month operational plan has been operationalised at Goudkoppies landfill site, Pikitup will deploy 10 tipper trucks and two front-end loader trucks to clear illegal dumping around the landfill site.

“The same operational plan will be implemented at Marie Louise, where five tipper trucks and one front-end loader truck will clean illegal dumping spots adjacent to the site for two months,” explained Mkhwanazi.