Richards Bay businesses, residents band together to help firefighters
The community of Richards Bay has banded together to help the firefighters battling the woodchip mill inferno.
Crews are in their fifth day of tackling the flames.
The fire started on two stockpiles on Saturday at the NCT factory.
Ward councillor Henning de Wet says private companies and the farming community have jumped in to help stop the fire from spreading to other stockpiles along John Ross Highway.
"At this stage, they are using all the connection points inside the mill. We have got 38,000-litre tankers driving in to keep all the fire engines full inside. There are efforts to pump directly from the lake and reservoirs from the outside.
“So, everything is being done to get as much as possible water into the grounds, but the majority of this water is going to the TWK woodchips, which has not been affected in an attempt to prevent them from catching alight."
De Wet says while the nearby suburb of Arboretum Extension has not been affected, residents have been providing support to the firefighters.
"There are still great efforts from private businesses and the public also to donate supplies. There are essential drop-off points where all the companies collect those parcels - that ranges from food, water, energy drinks, chocolates, medical kits, goggles and gloves which the community takes from the inside to there and those parcels get distributed."
NCT General Manager Danny Knoesen says they are slowly but surely winning the battle against the fire...
"All the efforts that we have been doing now have been to protect the previously untouched stockpiles belonging to TWK fundamentally because they are adjacent to the hostel, and all efforts on the ground have been to reduce heat and then protect the piles of TWK. To that end, we have numerous resources spread from a number of companies, including the municipality."
He was speaking at a briefing on Wednesday alongside uMhlathuze Municipality and other stakeholders.
Knoesen says there have been some challenges with the wind conditions.
"We have successfully contained the fire and not allowed it to spread. Right now, that is the status. We are aware of wind conditions which affect the firefight on a daily basis, the technique we use and the angles of approach with the assistance of experts from the uMhlathuze Municipality.
