Two businesses in the Queensmead industrial park in Queensburgh, a recycling plant on Munroe Road, and an auto body repair shop on Piet Retief Road, were gutted in the fire on Monday.
Residents in Malvern, Hillary, Flamboyant Park, Escombe, Shallcross, Kharwastan and nearby areas were alerted by the eThekwini Municipality to the high smoke levels from the Waste Plan premises.
An employee at the company, who did not want to be named, said he was inside the plant when the fire started.
“I believe the plastic in the yard caught alight and caused the fire to spread to the factory. There were about 40 staff members on duty and we evacuated the premises. We called the fire department and tried to stop the fire from spreading by putting sand over the smaller flames.”
He said it was suspected that the fire had started somewhere else and the wind had blown it onto the plastic.
When POST visited the scene on Tuesday morning, firemen were still trying to extinguish the fire. The company management declined to comment.
The air was thick with smoke and smelled of burnt chemicals and plastic.
Other business owners, who declined to be named, said they had to evacuate their shops and close for the day.
An auto body repair business was also completely destroyed by the fire.
The owner said there was a veld fire in a nearby vacant plot of land.
“A massive gush of wind blew a flame onto the roof of my business premises and it immediately caught alight.”
The owner, who has had the shop for 10 years, said there was nothing he could do but get to safety.
The fire gutted his entire workshop and vehicles that were parked there.
A nearby garage owner said he was informed about the fire by his staff.
“When I got to the garage I could see the flames from the fire at the waste management company. My staff told me they heard what sounded like an explosion.”
He said the flames were high and the smoke was thick.
“I evacuated my staff and closed the garage. We were fortunate that the flames did not blow in our direction.”
Another business owner said all she could smell and see was smoke.
“We left the building and went onto the road near the waste management company and saw all the melted plastic leaking onto the road. We began placing sand and rocks on top of the plastic to try and cool it down.”
She said all she could hear was crackling and popping.
“Since the incident there has been black mucus coming out of my nose and my chest is heavy because I inhaled a lot of smoke.”
A nearby resident, Alan Ndobo, who lives around 650 metres away from the Waste Plan, said that he could not spend the night at home because his house was filled with smoke and the smell of toxic chemicals.
“It was really intense. I could not breathe so I just grabbed my computer, ID and my qualifications and left home because I thought it was not safe. Besides not being safe, I could not breathe. I spent the night at the Royal Hotel in town and just got back this morning but the house still has a strong chemical smell,”
Ndobo said.
Trias Shadrach said they closed all the doors and windows at home because there was a bad plastic smell.
Emmanuel Govender said he could see the flames from his home.
“There was a cloud of smoke in the air. We closed our windows and doors and stayed inside. My son is asthmatic and we were concerned about his health. The smoke was strong and it was difficult to breathe.”
Desmond D’Sa, the founder of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) said burning plastic released chemicals such as dioxins and furans that had a harmful impact on people, especially pregnant women and mothers who breastfeed their children.
“Plastics should never be burned. We have been advocating for the banning of plastics for a long time,” he said.
Dr Sipho Mfolozi, an expert forensic pathologist and toxicologist at UKZN, said when plastics burnt, carbon and black soot was released into the air.
He said the burning plastic releases carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and a variety of cyanides into the air.
“The irritants in the air would cause people to experience respiratory symptoms. The black in the mucus is carbon. It is soot that would stick into the mucus of the airways from the nostrils to the lungs,” he added.
In a statement, the eThekwini Municipality, said emergency teams, environmental health practitioners, and air quality specialists were working swiftly to mitigate the impact on air quality in the affected areas.
The POST