People were asking ‘where’s the fire?’ after smoke was seen billowing up into the sky in the industrial area on Thursday last week. Upon investigation, it was found that a scrap yard’s building in Suid Street was ablaze. It is alleged that workers had burned some of the unsold materials in the warehouse. When the first emergency units tried to enter the building, it was discovered that sections of the warehouse had already collapsed and the structure was burning fiercely. The AbaQulusi Fire Brigade arrived with a skid unit (bakkie sakkie) and immediately tried to create a barrier zone to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent buildings, which also housed car parts. A water tanker from AbaQulusi Local Municipality also arrived to support the efforts of the skid unit. Emergency services requested more assistance in the form of more skid units, since the area presented major access challenges. Transnet emergency services answered the call with a medium pumper. They initiated a foam attack due to the various hazardous chemicals that were involved. The Transnet unit engaged its foam cannon to douse the larger part of the fire in an attempt to extinguish it. This created a zone for fire-fighters to enter the building and to put out the spot fires that were under the collapsed structures. Community members joined forces to help the emergency workers by supplying them with drinking water, since the extreme heat of both the sun and the fire was threatening to cause dehydration. It took emergency services about three hours to extinguish the blaze completely.
The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.
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