While the blaze that spewed out fumes from manholes in Joburg CBD has been put out, electricians are battling to assess the extent of the damage and restore power to affected areas.
Johannesburg emergency services spent most part of Monday night extinguishing a massive underground tunnel fire in the city centre.
Electricity cables planted inside the tunnel caught fire on Monday, cutting off power to residents and businesses around Fordsburg. The fire also tripped two main lines to Central and Selby Substation.
It is unclear what started the fire but City Power technicians had to halt their efforts to restore electricity to allow firefighters to battle the fire first.
Michael Sun from Joburg Infrastructure Services MMC explained that although the fire has been contained, there’s need to restore power and repair affected cables including internet and other services.
EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said, “As soon as we have extinguished the fire, which we hope for by this afternoon, we will make sure the air quality is OK and the structural integrity of the tunnel is OK, then we will allow technicians to do their work.”