Pretoria - City of Tshwane firefighters saved an electrical transformer manufacturing factory in Pretoria West from possible destruction by fire.
The fire broke out at SGB-Smit Power Matla on Sunday at about 5pm.
An official, who was driving with her command aide from a house fire in West Park, saw a cloud of dark smoke in the direction of the Pretoria West industrial area.
She ordered her aide to drive in the direction of the smoke to investigate.
Upon arrival at the gate of the factory on the corner of Buitekant and Carl streets, they discovered smoke and visible flames coming out of an industrial plant.
She immediately ordered the dispatch of firefighting resources by radio to the Emergency Call Centre.
According to information provided on-site, it was established that a fire had broken out in one of the 90 kVA transformers. It was also established that there were various hazardous and flammable substances (transformer oil, kerosene, paint, liquefied petroleum gas, oxygen, acetenyl and so on) of various quantities in the factory.
Upon the arrival of the firefighting crews, sectors were established to initiate the fire attack on the south-western part of the building, to prevent the fire from spreading to the eastern and south-eastern parts of the building and protect the northern parts of the building.
The northern part of the building has two 14 000-litre tanks of kerosene, two 33 000-litre tanks of transformer oil and a 30 000-litre trailer tanker.
The south-eastern part of the building has a core cutting plant and a small transformer manufacturing plant, which were saved from the blaze. Several high-voltage transformers that were either completed or near completion and a control room in the main plant were destroyed by the fire.
Various shut-off valves providing the plant with kerosene and transformer oil were closed. The contents in the 75ml pipelines remained a concern during the firefighting operation, as could the explosions that could be heard from inside the building.
The fire was contained at around 6.30pm. Firefighters continued with operations until after midnight when cooling off and the elimination of hotspots were completed.
The extent of the damage has not yet been quantified and the cause of the transformer catching fire remains a subject of investigation. Firefighting teams continue to monitor the plant for possible flare-ups.
Pretoria News