Vusumuzi Dube
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
TWO occupants at a Emakhandeni house were lucky to escape unharmed when their house caught fire on Sunday night.
While the cause of the fire has not yet been established, a fire brigade report has said preliminary investigations indicated that an unattended lit candle could have caused the fire while residents suspect floor polish making to have caused the fire.
Property that include a bed, cupboard, wardrobe, four plate stove and other household property was lost in the inferno, with the fire brigade estimating its value to be around $20 million.
“Fire broke out at a two roomed private residential house in Emakhandeni and built of brick under asbestos sheets. Fire was out on arrival but the house was extensively damaged by fire with the asbestos sheets over one room blown off by the fire and the property in that room completely gutted by the fire.
“The fire involved mainly one room of the two roomed house and the suspected cause of the fire is a lit candle left unattended. The fire was extinguished by neighbours using sand and buckets of water,” reads the report.
Sunday News visited the house and spoke to some of the witnesses who revealed that they suspected the fire to have emanated from floor polish making.
A neighbour who spoke on condition of anonymity took this news crew into her house where she exhibited her source of suspicion.
“The occupant at that house is into floor polish making business. And as you know, in this business they use paraffin which is highly flammable and a key ingredient in producing their product. The smoke that comes into my house from my neighbour is severe.
“As you can see my walls have changed colour. I have even blocked the air ventilators with newspapers to reduce the smoke. I have even deserted my bedroom and occupied the living room together with my children because it has been severely affecting us through coughing and other chronic effects,” said the source.
She said they suspected that the occupants might have gotten rid of the evidence before the arrival of the fire brigade.
Another neighbour, Ms Nomathemba Ncube said the fire broke out at around 831pm. She said when the fire broke out she was in her house and only witnessed the fire after it had engulfed the whole house.
Efforts to get a comment form Mr Patrick Dube the owner of the house and Ms Junior Dube who is alleged to be the floor polish producer were fruitless as their lines were not going through
@nyeve14
Online Reporter