Joburg gas line fire ‘an isolated incident’

Egoli Gas said the fire on one of its gas lines on the corners of Bertha and De Korte streets in Braamfontein on Tuesday afternoon was an isolated incident.

Johannesburg emergency medical services said five people were treated on the scene and taken to different medical facilities for further treatment after employees of Egoli Gas working next to their truck and the building in front of them caught fire.

Making Joburg safe

Egoli Gas said the gas pipeline was immediately isolated and the fire was contained within 15 minutes.

“Egoli Gas has been working closely with the Executive Team of the City of Johannesburg since the Bree Street explosion in July 2023 to make the city safe. This involves exposing sections of pipeline and sleeving to ensure integrity of the network.

“This process of making the city safe is being rolled out in phases; following the explosion in Bree Street in July and possible damage to the Egoli Gas infrastructure due to that incident,” it said.

Extra measures

Egoli Gas said it will, in conjunction with the City of Johannesburg, put extra measures in place to ensure an incident like this does not occur again.

“A root cause analysis will be concluded and agreement has been reached with the executive team of Johannesburg that JMPD and EMS will be informed of future work to assist with the management of traffic and public movement in areas where work is planned.”

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Joburg explosion

In July, an explosion in Johannesburg CBD during peak traffic claimed one life and injured 48 others.

Thirty-seven vehicles, most of them minibus taxis, were also damaged during the explosion, which destroyed sections of Bree and Rissik streets.

City Manager Floyd Brink said the investigation in the inner-city Joburg explosion revealed methane gas was identified as the cause.

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