Capricorn District Municipality Fire Services Respond to Underground Fire in Morebeng Dam Area
Capricorn District Municipality Fire Services was notified this week of an underground fire burning to the surface in the Morebeng Dam area, Molemole.
This followed its discovery by residents and the subsequent trend on social media, which sparked rumors that it was a “volcano.”
The Municipality’s Fire Services and Environmental Management Services stated that it was a small smoldering fire that progressively grew to about 15 meters in size.
An investigation by the Municipality’s Fire Services and Environmental Management Services established that the burning area is an old wetland, which experienced a fire back in September when the reeds and grass burned due to the prolonged drought.
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The Municipality’s Chief Fire Officer for Molemole, Wynand Els, explained that the soil cracked and some of the burnt embers fell into the open cracks, igniting the organic material in the dried-up wetland.
“When I took a multi-gas meter to measure the presence of any gases in the atmosphere, there was no sulfur or any explosive gases like methane, but only carbon monoxide, which is a normal smoke. There were no poisonous gases present,” he said.
Els said the team also used geographical maps from previous years to determine whether the site had ever been used as a landfill, which was not the case.
“They then dug approximately two meters deep to ascertain the depth of the underground fire and the type of material that was burning, confirming that it was organic material that had accumulated over centuries and served as the fuel that burned underground during the past dry seasons until it smoldered to the surface this week.
The digging was also conducted “to remove the ‘fuel’ because it’s not possible to extinguish it with water, as we don’t have the necessary penetration to reach two meters deep with water,” said Els.
“It was therefore not a volcano,” he declared.
The area has been cordoned off to protect it from grazing livestock and the public until the fire has been dealt with.