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A firefighter on the scene of the blaze at the police vehicle maintenance unit’s unit s holding area in Jan Hofmeyr Road Road, where a fire destroyed 37 vehicles on Monday afternoon (08/05). Photo: Francois Klaassen
Fire engulfs vehicles Poor water supply from fire hydrants hampers efforts to fight blaze Marti Will and Madli Grobbelaar mwill@volksblad.com
A devastating fire swept through the police vehicle maintenance unit’s holding area on Monday (08/05), destroying 37 vehicles. All of these vehicles had already been written off and were due to be compacted. The fire originated from a veld fire in the field adjoining the police station. The entire area was devastated and at one stage the bushes opposite the Lejweleputswa District Municipality were burning fiercely. No buildings were affected by the fire and no-one was hurt. The fire caused traffic to come to a standstill, as thick smoke engulfed the area and loud explosions were heard
as tyres and wheel rims reacted to the intense heat. Francois Klaassen, assistant chief fire officer of fire safety in the Matjhabeng Municipality, says they received the call-out at 14:00 and the Welkom fire truck was on the scene at 14:05. The Virginia fire truck arrived shortly after this and the fire was doused by 15:00. “However, we had a major problem with water availability. None of the fire hydrants in Jan Hofmeyr Road at the police station had water in them and the one on the premises at the charge office only allowed for a thin trickle of water. “The Welkom fire truck fetched water from the Goldfields Mall and the Virginia fire truck fetched water from Welkom-Gimnasium.
“The Haz Quip vehicles were also at the scene and they too fetched water from the school. Last year I spoke to the police department about the fire hydrant problem, but nothing has been done about this,” says Klaassen. Klaassen says they had one truck at the scene until 17:00, when the fire was completely doused. “The public must report veld fires immediately. Monday’s fire started as a small veld fire, but nobody reported it until it was too late,” says Klaassen. The provincial commissioner of the Free State, Lt.Gen. Lebeoana Tsumane, would like to assure the community of Matjhabeng that service delivery will not be affected by Monday’s fire. Tsumane says preliminary investigations have revealed that the fire
started at the rugby field situated next to the police station. “A footpath runs through the field and it is suspected that a passer-by might have thrown down a cigarette, which caused the fire. Due to the wind, the fire moved rapidly into the camp,” he says. Tsumane says it took the fire brigade about an hour and 15 minutes to put out the fire. “I have appointed a team of experts, led by the deputy provincial commissioner of crime detection, Maj.Gen. Jones Qhobosheane, to investigate and determine the real cause of the fire. “The community should rest assured that normal policing will not be affected at all, as these cars were no longer functioning.”
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