Municipality hopes to have Maritzburg fire out by tomorrow
Msunduzi Municipality says it is working to have the landfill fire in Pietermaritzburg completely extinguished by tomorrow.
The fire started at the New England Road Landfill on Thursday and engulfed the Pietermaritzburg CBD and surrounding areas in thick smoke on Friday morning. Graders, landfill compactors and water tankers were brought in to control the flames that spread rabidly over a 100 metres wide area of the landfill yesterday.
Msunduzi said in a statement that the fire was not put out on Thursday because of strong winds causing smoke and other atmospheric pollution. The municipality says the situation is improving steadily.
Officials say it is difficult to pin-point the exact cause of the fire at this stage.