Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
BULAWAYO firefighters were pushed to the limit yesterday as they raced from one emergency to another, battling four separate fires that tore through different parts of the city and left a trail of destruction.
For the men and women in the emergency services, it was a day of relentless firefighting as three veld fires broke out in different parts of the city while a raging inferno engulfed a two-storey building in the central business district. Although no fatalities were reported, the fires stretched the city’s emergency resources and reduced property to ashes, with firefighters forced to confront multiple blazes on a day marked by an unprecedented number of fire incidents.
The most devastating blaze erupted in the city centre around 1PM, when a building along Leopard
Takawira Avenue between George Silundika Street and Fife Street caught fire.
When the fire broke out, it sent firefighters into a race against time to prevent the flames from spreading to neighbouring properties.
Several fire engines, dozens of firefighters and back-up water bowsers were deployed as emergency crews battled to bring the raging inferno under control.
The scale of the blaze presented a major challenge for the emergency department, which was already stretched by the three veld fires reported elsewhere in the city.
While the fires did not claim any lives, the destruction of property served as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of outbreak of fires and the importance of adequate resources to enable firefighters to respond swiftly when disaster strikes.
Bulawayo Fire Brigade chief fire officer Mr Mhlangano Moyo said the city centre fire was reported by an employee of the Bulawayo City Council who noticed smoke bellowing from a building opposite his office window at the City Hall.
“We received a call from a colleague who works at the City Hall who said he had noticed smoke coming out of an opposite building from his work place so we have reason to believe that the fire had spread throughout the building before it was reported,” he said.
“It took the teams’ eight fire engines and two bowsers carrying additional water to put out the fire.
We understand that one gentleman was taken to hospital by a private ambulance possible to be treated for smoke inhalation,” said Mr Moyo.
He confirmed that no one was injured in the inferno that completely destroyed the building, which housed students who rented rooms on the first floor and several businesses on the ground floor.
“We observed several gas cylinders that we believe were being used by students who rented rooms on the first floor although our investigations are yet to determine the cause of the fire. We will know the definite cause of the fire by tomorrow,” he said.
Businesses that operated on the ground floor include a bar, restaurant, pharmacy and a company that booked clients for outdoor activities around the Matopos National Park and other recreational places for safaris and nature related activities.
In a show of bravery and unity, a group onlookers joined hands to save a woman who was forced to jump from the first floor of the burning building as she tried to escape the raging fire.
One of the rescuers said the woman had no other option but to jump from the first floor into their
hands as the fire spread through the building.
He said the day had been a busy one after fire fighters battled to contain veld fires across the city earlier in the day before they were summoned to extinguish the blaze in the city centre.
“We had teams putting out a veld fire around the Nust (National University of Science and Technology) while another team attended another one in Newton West suburb. Another team was also called to another veld fire in the Gumtree area,”
Earlier in the week the fire brigade also battled to bring a raging fire that destroyed vegetation in the How Mine area, on the outskirts of Bulawayo, and Manningdale suburb were swaths of land were reduced to ashes and soot.
