Fire guts down Bowline factory

and machinery all worth over US$10 million was destroyed.
No one was injured in the inferno.
The management is still to establish the cause of fire since there was no one in the warehouse when the fire started.
About 40 minutes after the fire had started, fire fighters were still struggling to extinguish it but by that time it had destroyed almost half of the warehouse.
Bowline security manager Mr Contract Musenho said they were still to establish the cause of the fire. He, however, commended Harare Fire Brigade for their swift response.
“It is unfortunate that we cannot establish the cause of fire at this stage. This was a storeroom where we kept power generators, complete set of beds which were ready for delivery, and all our raw materials.
“I was in my office when I saw smoke which was unusual and the bad part was we failed to get into the room as it is always locked.
“We tried to put out the fire using fire extinguishers in vain while waiting for the fire brigade to respond.
“Earlier on I had called the police to help but I would like to commend them for their early response and right now everything is under control,” he said.
Workers said they saw smoke coming from the storeroom.
“The warehouse is always locked and we are failing to understand how a fire could have started but everyone is just suspecting it could be an electrical fault.
“Most of the goods were destroyed but some were recovered but our main worry is wether we are still going to be employed because the company will take time to recover,” one worker said.
A shocked Bowline owner Mr Ranchod Serish referred all questions to his security personnel.
Fire is regarded as a challenge in industries and of late the city officials admitted that Harare’s capacity to deal with infernos was greatly compromised because of equipment challenges. Several fire tenders are grounded and are in need of spare parts.
Many business premises do not have fire extinguishers and valves while water in fire hose reels was used up when the city started losing capacity to supply piped water.
A lot of fire fighting equipment has also gone for years without service.