Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Executive Council has been brought up to speed about the fire in Richards Bay which started almost a week ago.
The council, chaired by Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, convened an ordinary meeting on Wednesday, October 4, and reflected on pertinent issues in the province, including the fire.
Government communication head Bongi Gwala said the executive council received an update from the Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) under the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) on the fire incident that was reported to the City of uMhlathuze Fire and Emergency Services under King Cetshwayo District involving NCT wood chip factory.
The area of uMhlathuze is made up of a number of industries, most of which are major hazard installations.
Gwala said the executive council was informed of the following:
• Upon receipt of the call, the municipality immediately dispatched the fire teams from the Richards Bay Fire Station to the scene. At the scene, it became apparent that the available resources were not adequate to suppress the raging flames and they called for backup from Empangeni Fire Station. Other teams were then immediately mobilised from the neighbouring private sector, and were placed in strategic positions to suppress the fire and prevent it from spreading to other wood stockpiles.
• To date various stakeholders are currently responding to the fire to provide support with fire suppression and prevent the burning ambers from affecting residential areas.
• The executive council noted that complaints and concerns have been received from stakeholders and communities regarding poor co-ordination and integration by local authorities. This has necessitated the Provincial Disaster Management Centre to convene a Special Joint Operations Committee (JOC) in support of King Cetshwayo District Municipality and the City of uMhlathuze to ensure an integrated and co-ordinated response.
• The JOC was established as the central co-ordinating hub in the City of uMhlathuze to sit twice daily to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, the COU (City of uMhlathuze) control centre has been activated as an operational centre that runs on a 24-hour basis to monitor progress, continuous engagement and risk developments.
• Cogta and the Department of Water and Sanitation have been requested to assist with the deployment of additional water engineers to augment the water supply pressure from the fire hydrants.
• As part of augmenting the aerial firefighting operation, Cogta has submitted an urgent request via the National Disaster Management Centre for the SANDF to deploy additional resources to support the fire suppression operation. Ground resources are also being sourced from the neighbouring municipalities and stakeholders to provide relief to the operational staff who have been working since the start of the fire.
Gwala added that the executive council expressed its gratitude to all the officials and teams who have dedicated and volunteered their time to ensure the fire is kept under control, and to prevent fatalities.
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Daily News