A soft dappled light penetrates through one of the once grand, now dirty windows, lighting up the dust in the air. It was quite a sight due to the intensely dark and over powering shadows in the background.

I was the skeleton of a decommissioned power station. Such a great sight, such size, it is hard to believe that the place was just left standing there. Walking through the old housing where the generators once stood, now, all that is lift is the concrete bases and the steel supports which are too thick to cut with simple means. The rest of it has been stripped and sold off as scrap. The coal shoots’ are still there only due to their in-accessible location, approximately 5 stories up in the roof.

Nature slowly reclaiming....

Coal shoots are above...

One of the coal shoots.

As I walked through the old chambers, there are still signs lift behind, which offer a glimpse back in time to an era long past, to the days of the apartheid.

Health hazard warnings are throughout the buildings.

Inside the base of one of the chimneys.

A chimney maintenance hatch.

Rush and Rivets.

One of the structural supports.

Coal distribution warehouse

Part of the power station...

The Fire

I was on my way home at 1:30am from shooting a wedding. I took the off-ramp and I noticed smoke coming from the business park on my right. Being a firefighter and just loving fire I raced off in the direction from where the smoke was coming.

The timing couldn't have been better if I had planned it! There I was with my camera, 3 really great lenses, and this fire which had just started. Only the local security guards were runnung around madly! The Next few photos are from that most awesome evening!

What I really appreciate about this photo is the glass melting in the frames. Particularly the top left and the center left rows.

Just before the front section of the warehouse collapsed.

As the corrugated iron structure started to collapse in onto itself, a joint in a water pipe gave way, resulting in a shower that saved one of three trucks parked in an ally just bellow where I was standing. The two other trucks melted and a fourth truck inside the warehouse was completely destroyed.

The intense heat was enough to make the corrugated iron warehouse glow.

To the rescue...