Fire highlights risks of buildings standing empty
Premises likely used to melt insulation off stolen wiring
Business owners, residents and a ward councillor sounded the alarm recently when they saw thick black smoke coming from the Pascoe Crescent building opposite the Port Alfred Police Station. The incident highlighted an ongoing situation in the municipalowned building, which has stood unused since the start of the Covid19 lockdown in 2020. It also highlighted the ongoing issues around metal recycling.
At about midday on Wednesday August 3, a member of the public alerted Talk of the Town to what they assumed was a building on fire opposite the police station. When this reporter arrived, thick black smoke was pouring from an open doorway.
When this reporter took photographs of the outside of the building, three ran inside. Two accosted this reporter, demanding he stop taking photographs and threatening to break the camera.
Visible through the doorway was a fire made on the floor of the building. The smoke smelt like a combination of wood and plastic burning.
Ward 6 councillor Edward Walker arrived a few minutes later, thinking, like others, that the building was on fire.
“I was driving to town and saw this smoke and I thought there was a house on fire,” Walker said. “I have just called the fire department now to come and extinguish this fire. This is the third time now that the fire department has to do the same thing in the same place.
“Those fires have been started primarily to melt insulation off wiring, mostly for the copper,” he said.
Walker was also threatened by homeless people as he took photographs. The smoke attracted the attention of local security company Multi Security who were the next to arrive.
This reporter asked nearby businesses how they were affected by the goings-on in the empty building. One of them said they had endured the problem for some time.
“We struggle to do our work here sometimes because the smoke gets inside,” they said.
South African Police Service spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana said: “Since this is said to be happening within the municipality environment, I would advise that complaints approach the municipal authorities for intervention. Should police assistance be requested by the municipality, the station commander may be approached by the municipality.”
Through spokesperson Cecil Mbolekwa, Ndlambe Municipality confirmed the buildings belong to it.
WHile TOTT was not able to
confirm whether the fire-makers actually lived in the building, Mbolekwa referred to them as homeless.
“This issue of homeless people is a worrying factor for the municipality and the community at large,” Mbolekwa said. “We all need to be reminded of what happened during the Covid-19 lockdown [when many people lost their income and their homes].
“The municipality together with other social partners has embarked on a programme to remove people from those municipal buildings, but they keep coming back.
“We are working with the police to try and eliminate the risk created by homeless people.”
Meanwhile, the department of trade and industry has published draft proposals for comment on measures to restrict and regulate trade in ferrous and non-ferrous metals waste and scrap metal to limit damage to infrastructure and the economy.
Transnet, Eskom, cellphone companies and other businesses that rely on public infrastructure have lost billions through the theft of metal for sale as scrap.