Pretoria - A massive explosion at a biofuel factory in Pretoria North on Wednesday sent about 200 000 litres of burning oil in a lava-like stream into neighbouring factories, destroying everything in their path.
A cloud of black smoke could be seen from kilometres away as Tshwane Emergency Services personnel worked tirelessly to extinguish the rapidly spreading fire, which broke out at Marleda Oil.
Foreman Claude van Niekerk stood shaking his head as the last of the flames were extinguished.
He had inhaled some of the smoke and said his chest and throat were “on fire”.
“I’m struggling to talk and would prefer not to say too much. I have no idea what happened. One minute there was smoke and the next this massive explosion. It is a miracle no one was injured,” he said.
Tshwane emergency services spokesman Johan Pieterse said the fire began at about 2.30pm.
The cause was unclear but it was suspected a burner caught fire, leading to the explosion, he said.
Pieterse explained oil freely flowed from the containers after the explosion. The fire spread quickly, destroying several other factories as well as cars and a flatbed truck.
“As the oil spread, it caught fire and it was difficult to contain. We had seven fire trucks and three water tankers attending,” Pieterse said.
Gilbert Bosch, of Mountain View, said he was returning from a meeting when he saw black smoke.
“I decided to take a closer look and when I arrived I could see something was wrong,” he said.
“While I was speaking to the fire brigade, the explosion happened.”
Bosch said the flames were huge and the fire so intense he could feel the heat from the opposite side of the R566, the old Rosslyn road.
Adri van Staden, an employee of L&L Bakery nearby, said she heard a loud bang.
“I ran outside and saw massive flames. I could feel the heat. The first thing my colleagues and I did was to run back to the bakery, remove all the gas bottles, place them in our cars and move the cars across the road,” she said.
Pieterse said large parts of Montana and Rosslyn were without power because power cables had snapped in the fire.
“Fire safety will conduct an investigation into the cause of the fire,” he said.
Pretoria News