Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Mambo, Sunday News Reporter
MR Bowker Muchichwa (54) from Mahatshula North suburb in Bulawayo is all smiles after returning to his refurbished home that was destroyed by a fire in July.
The inferno, suspected to have been caused by an electrical fault, destroyed the seven-roomed house and property worth about US$25 000 and left him with nothing. Mr Muchichwa said he was grateful for the help from the community who supplied him with food, clothing and helped him rebuild his home.
“I am so grateful for the love that I saw from our community members who showed up and ensured that we had food and clothing. The community and churches came through for us and ensured that we lacked nothing. I returned to my house on 10 October and I am grateful to my neighbour who played a crucial role in accommodating me and my family for these past months,” said Mr Muchichwa.
Mr Muchichwa shared lessons from the incident and urged homeowners to insure their homes.
“There are many lessons that I learnt from the incident including having good relationships with community members and insuring homes. Every week, there are reports of house fires, and I believe that there is a need for every household to have fire extinguishers because from my experience, we tried to extinguish the fire with water, and this made it worse,” said Mr Muchichwa.
Last month, the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) noted an increase in fire incidents stating they were receiving eight to 10 fire calls daily. In June, the BCC Acting Chief Fire Officer Mr Linos Phiri said they recorded 46 cases of fires in two weeks.
“From 2 to 15 June, we recorded four property types of fire with one being an electric cooker left on, the other being a lit candle left unattended, the other being carelessly discarded lit material while the last is unknown. We attended three vehicle fires where two were caused by electrical faults and the other being grass fire. We had four rubbish cases caused by deliberate burning and 34 cases of grass fire. We recorded one False Alarm with Good Intent (FAGI) as a pressure cooker was left on. The total number of calls attended from 2 to 15 June was 46,” said Mr Phiri.
A member of the Mahatshula Residents’ Association Mr Jabulani Gambiza said the community surpassed his expectations and urged other communities to adopt the strategy of helping their community members faced with crises.
Mr Gambiza said they had managed to fix the roof and were now left with the ceiling.
“We have used about US$8 500 for the renovations and we have managed to fix the roof, windows and plastering. We are pushing for the ceiling and rewiring of the house,” said Mr Gambiza.
He stated that they got support from different partners who managed to ensure the success of the initiative.
“We would like to appreciate the other partners who contributed to this positive initiative including community members, churches and companies,” said Mr Gambiza.
Mr Muchichwa’s neighbour Mr Mclean Nemukuyu urged communities to have good relations with their neighbours to ensure that they can unite in dealing with crises. (B-Metro)
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