VIDEO: Smoke in the air: Residents fired up … for all the wrong reasons
West Rand Emergency Services confirms the latest landfill site fire is the biggest this year as Mogale City residents were woken up by the smell of smoke … again.
Yet another fire has broken out at the Luipaardsvlei Landfill Site.
According to West Rand Emergency Services regional commander Gerhard Nieuwoudt, they received a call at about 23:50 on Tuesday, August 27 regarding a fire on the west side of the landfill site.
• Also read: Landfill Site still smoking
“This is not the same fire that was extinguished last time. The fire then spread rapidly and higher up in the site. We fought the fire until 03:00 the next day [Wednesday, August 28],” Nieuwoudt said.
He added this is the biggest fire at the landfill site this year and could not extinguish it entirely because there is no water point.
“The fire trucks ran out of water and the fire is burning deeply underneath the heaps of trash. The lack of a water point made it impossible to extinguish it completely,” Nieuwoudt added.
• Also read: West Rand residents are now prohibited from lighting open fires
Jaco Mulder, Member of the Provincial Legislature and chairperson of the committee on Agricultural, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs, said the situation has gotten so out of hand at Mogale City Local Municipality’s (MCLM) dumping site because is not up to municipal standards and waste is not compacted properly.
He added it also has a significant impact on air quality in the area.
The Krugersdorp News reached out to MCLM on the matter, however, no response was given by the time of publication considering the seriousness of the matter. Their feedback will be published once received.
The News also published a front-page article in its latest edition (August 30) about the landfill fires and the health risks involved as well as the unhappiness of residents. Click here to read more.
