He said when they arrived at the scene they found tools that they suspect belonged to the cable thieves.
“We suspect they were either trying to steal the same cables they set on fire or they wanted to trip one of the substations where they’d steal the cables because the cables on the bridge feed both Fordsburg and Braamfontein substations,” said Mangena.
He said they were making plans to find alternative power sources to restore electricity at the council chambers in Braamfontein where the state of the city address is expected to be delivered by mayor Thapelo Gwamanda today.
Clark said the operation could have taken two days as they would have been required to break the 300mm thick concrete slab covering the cables to put out the blaze which would have resulted in the closure of two lanes.
Trains under the bridge were also removed for safety concerns yesterday.
Passenger Rail Agency of SA spokesperson Andiswa Makanda said no services had been affected as they don’t run trains on public holidays.
“We have successfully relocated several locomotives and coaches to safety after a fire incident occurred on the M1 bridge above the Braamfontein yard where coaches and locomotives are staged. No major damage has been reported on the coaches and locomotives, except minimal damage to the paint of a few locomotives and coaches due to heat exposure. We will continue assessing the entire fleet that was relocated,” said Makanda.
18-hour battle to save M1 highway from raging fire
Cable thieves leave parts of Joburg without power
Parts of Johannesburg were yesterday left without power as firefighters scrambled for more than 18 hours to put out a blaze that threatened to collapse the M1 highway double-decker bridge.
The fire was sparked by cable thieves who burnt the 88volt cable running along the sides of the bridge on Tuesday night. However, according to city officials the fire overwhelmed the thieves who left their tools including a saw and cellphone behind once they realised their lives were in danger.
Fire OPS SA divisional chief from the Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) Rory Clark said the structural integrity would have been compromised had the fire not been contained by late last night after they started using sand bags to put it out. He said they were in contact with the Johannesburg Road Agency to assess the bridge.
For hours yesterday firefighters had been using water which could not penetrate the concrete tunnels from which the cables run and by the afternoon the OPS SA team had to be called to assist and they responded by using foam which made minimal impact.
EMS spokesperson Robert Mulauzdi said: “The sand bags prevented the water from seeping out of the tunnels and they could flood the tunnels which helped in extinguishing the fire. The foam helped to cool down the fire temperature but it did not stop the fire. We expect to open three lanes of the M1 South tonight [last night] and then we will assess the situation and possibly open all the lanes tomorrow [today].”
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the 200 Celsius fire had caused a power outage with affected areas like Braamfontein, Joburg CBD, Fordsburg, Parktown, Vrededorp, Pageview and Melville.
“It will be difficult to restore power at this stage because after extinguishing the fire we will have to wait for the surface to cool down and that takes hours before we can get and assess the damage and try to restore the electricity. At this stage that work might start in the early hours of the morning until midday,” said Mangena.
He said when they arrived at the scene they found tools that they suspect belonged to the cable thieves.
“We suspect they were either trying to steal the same cables they set on fire or they wanted to trip one of the substations where they’d steal the cables because the cables on the bridge feed both Fordsburg and Braamfontein substations,” said Mangena.
He said they were making plans to find alternative power sources to restore electricity at the council chambers in Braamfontein where the state of the city address is expected to be delivered by mayor Thapelo Gwamanda today.
Clark said the operation could have taken two days as they would have been required to break the 300mm thick concrete slab covering the cables to put out the blaze which would have resulted in the closure of two lanes.
Trains under the bridge were also removed for safety concerns yesterday.
Passenger Rail Agency of SA spokesperson Andiswa Makanda said no services had been affected as they don’t run trains on public holidays.
“We have successfully relocated several locomotives and coaches to safety after a fire incident occurred on the M1 bridge above the Braamfontein yard where coaches and locomotives are staged. No major damage has been reported on the coaches and locomotives, except minimal damage to the paint of a few locomotives and coaches due to heat exposure. We will continue assessing the entire fleet that was relocated,” said Makanda.
The University of Witwatersrand located metres from the bridge said although it was aware of the incident it had not been affected by it.
A petrol attendant at a petrol station next to the bridge said they have not had power since midnight on Tuesday.
“Because we only have one generator, the manager saw it fit to close this shop while keeping the generator running for the garage opposite us. It doesn’t affect us that much but it’s annoying because we are always going through blackouts because someone decided to steal cables,” said the attendant.
A supermarket owner located on Smit Street, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had to rely on his generator as he did not have power.