The hottest week of the year saw fire services battling several blazes across the City last week, including a large compost fire in Schaapkraal that blanketed several suburbs in smoke for days.
The “complicated” fire at Sonnestraal Farm in Olieboom Road, Philippi, broke out at approximately 11:40 on Saturday 7 March, with several crews battling flames that ignited massive heaps of mulch material, according to Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for Fire and Rescue.
Scale and cause of the blaze
Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith said in a video online that the compost heap was “extremely large, covering roughly 16 000 square meters and reaching heights of up to six metres”. Initially, arson had been suspected, but Smith confirmed the fire had been caused by internal combustion through a natural process of decomposition.
“The source of the heat, buried below 6m of mulch, has been recorded as generating temperatures in excess of 500 degrees Celsius,” Smith explained, adding that due to the scale and density of the material, the fire source was “largely inaccessible”.
Firefighting challenges
The blaze proved extraordinarily difficult to extinguish due to water’s inability to penetrate the massive mound deep enough.
“While we have been successful at keeping the top layer damp, as the water sinks lower within the mound, it quickly evaporates due to the heat source within,” Smith said.
Strong winds over the weekend exacerbated the situation, fanning the flames and causing smoke to travel in various directions, according to Carelse.
“The actual fire is in the centre of the heap and is creating loads of smoke, which is travelling in different directions depending on the wind direction.”
Helicopter deployment and intensive efforts
By Tuesday 10 March, Ward councillor Elton Jansen confirmed that two helicopters had been ordered to assist with firefighting efforts, scooping water from nearby Zeekoevlei.
“Yesterday we deployed two of our choppers to coordinate repeated drops of large volumes of water directly above the heat source, causing the internal temperature to reduce by nearly 200 degrees Celsius,” Smith reported.
The difficult fire required strategic resources from both fire services and the City’s disaster risk management department, with a temporary command centre established at the farm. Jansen witnessed firefighters and the farm owner working together round the clock, with the owner operating a digger loader alongside front-end loaders to access the centre of the blaze.
Impact on residents
The smoke, which Jansen described as “unbearable”, affected residents across the southern suburbs. Last Saturday, huge billows of smoke were visible from surrounding suburbs of Strandfontein, Grassy Park, Ottery, Westridge and Philippi, while a smoky haze settled over areas affecting residents up to 15km away.
“We are aware that residents across the southern suburbs have experienced excessive smoke since the weekend and we sincerely apologise for the impact this has had on air quality,” Smith said.
Emergency response
Residents experiencing emergencies as a result of the smoke were encouraged to call emergency services on 021 480 7700. Air-quality monitoring was arranged to assess the impact of the smoke on surrounding areas.
After five days, the blaze was still raging, with firefighting efforts expected to continue for several more days as crews worked to prevent large-scale flare-ups while battling the persistent heat source buried deep within the massive compost heap.
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