WATCH: Recycling yard catches fire in Bakerton
On Tuesday afternoon plastic recycling storage yard owner, Desmond Kavirayan (61) noticed a big cloud of smoke while he was working at the premises’ truck-storage section.
The yard is located on the corner of Deal and Ebony roads.
“We realised that there was a fire in the veld next to the yard and it was spreading to the section of the property that we were on,” says Desmond.
“We immediately grabbed hosepipes and buckets of water in an attempt to extinguish the fire.”
“We were just worried about the trucks being set alight as well.”
Two Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers, Louis Els and Louwtjie du Toit, were on patrol at about 4.50pm when they noticed the cloud of smoke in the Bakerton area.
“We rushed towards the direction of the smoke and found the yard on fire,” says Els.
“We immediately contacted the fire department for assistance and made sure that no one was trapped inside.”
Els says the fire department arrived on the scene and started to extinguish the fire, using three fire trucks.
“The fire took about three hours to extinguish but no injuries were sustained in the fire,” he adds.
Desmond says, while no one was injured, he incurred damage to recyclable material and a boat which was stored at the yard.
“The boat was worth approximately R45 000 so it is quite a big loss,” he adds.
Els says the fire department will look into the facts surrounding the fire.
“An investigation by the fire department will be undertaken in order to determine the cause of the fire,” he says.
