Officials from the Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue team suspect cigarette butts to be the cause of two recent fires in town. This was according to Gavin Tarentaal, platoon commander at Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue.
“The cause of the fire is suspected to be [that] someone might have thrown a cigarette butt into [the] drain where leaves and rubbish caught alight,” said Tarentaal.
Both fires were near Stellenbosch University (SU) premises, and were contained by Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue, said Tarentaal.
Nobody was harmed, and no damage to infrastructure was reported, said Tarentaal.
Drain fire quickly extinguished
The first fire, on 5 March, was attended to after smoke was seen rising from a drain on Ryneveld Street near SU’s Old Main Building, according to Tarentaal.
Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue and Campus Security on Ryneveld Street at the scene of a fire in a drain hole. PHOTO: Iman Allie
SU students alerted campus security of smoke emitting from the drain, according to Martin Viljoen, the media manager of SU.
“Campus Security was alerted to the incident at 15:42, after which the fire department was informed,” said Viljoen.
“The area was cordoned off by Campus Security,” said Viljoen. “The fire department arrived shortly after and successfully extinguished the source of the smoke.”
“It was a quick and easy job,” said Thahasello Maranyane, a diploma student in Sustainable Development at SU and witness of the drain fire incident. “They just opened the sewer hole and put water in, and they were on their way.”
No individuals were harmed, and no structural damage was incurred by the fire, said Tarentaal.
Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue members used 5500 litres of water to extinguish the drain fire on Ryneveld Street, according to Gavin Tarentaal, platoon commander of Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue . PHOTO: Iman Allie
Tree stump catches fire two days later
In another incident, on 7 March, five members of the fire and rescue team extinguished a burning tree stump in a parking lot on Banghoek Road, according to Tarentaal.
“It is my understanding that it was a small tree stump that caught fire at 05:00 [that] morning,” said Viljoen. “Campus Security found smoke coming from a tree-stump while on patrol after which the fire department was alerted.”
Similar to the first incident, no one was harmed and there was no structural damage due to the fire, according to Tarentaal.
Stellenbosch Fire and Rescue members extinguish and chop down the smoking tree stump on Banghoek Road. PHOTO: Iman Allie
SU and student procedures for fires
The university has “standard operating procedures in place to manage situations in, for example, buildings, open areas, and other settings”, said Viljoen.
“The best action to be taken by students is to inform Campus Security,” he said. “The phone number is on the back of staff and student cards.”