Residents asked to be patient with landfill site fire

As the fire at the Empangeni landfill site continues to smoulder, King Cetshwayo District Municipality (KCDM) urges residents in immediate and surrounding areas to ‘bear with us’.

“We are taking all available steps to treat the smoke and reduce pollution following the fire that broke out three weeks ago,” said KCDM communications manager Thami Shangase in a media release on Wednesday.

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“Fire authorities managed to contain the blaze, and at present, they are utilising soil and other cover materials to manage the smoke that is still emanating from the site. The arrival of new waste on site is being managed to ensure minimal inconvenience.”

“A major fire broke out at the District Solid Waste disposal site in the early hours of Sunday, 2 June. We managed to contain and put out the blaze, however, due to the flammable nature of the waste site, the fire resurfaced at 4am on the Monday morning.

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“It was immediately attended to and extinguished but started again on the Tuesday.

The district, together with the City of uMhlathuze fire department, has been using excavators and heavy plant machinery to contain the smouldering site over the past week, as the fire continued to revive itself at different parts of Cell 2 and the refurbished Cell 1.

The district will keep residents and all affected parties updated on the status of the situation, as well as the risk management plan to avoid a recurrence.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and assure residents of our commitment to safety at all times.”

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