adminProperty destroyed included two rooms of the six-roomed house, furniture and two trucks.
Witnesses said the house caught fire when a 20- litre bucket they were using to offload petrol from drums on the ground to drums on one of the trucks caught fire.
The fire then spread to the whole yard and reached the house.
When a Chronicle news crew arrived at the scene, the family members were in tears as neighbours watched helplessly. Witnesses said the incident occurred at around 12.30pm and members of the family escaped death by jumping over the pre-cast wall.
“We were loading fuel from the drums on the ground to drums that were on the truck when the 20-litre bucket we were using caught fire and we panicked and threw it down and the whole yard was set ablaze.
The owner of the house and his wife were not in a position to speak as they were crying uncontrollably. Another witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said neighbours had to knock down the wall to try and save property.
A family spokesperson, Ms Celesile Jophe said the family was still in shock following the incident.
Bulawayo City Council chief fire officer Mr Richard Peterson said the cause of the fire was still to be ascertained.
“Two of the six-roomed house, a ten-tonne and seven-tonne truck and about 40 drums of fuel were destroyed. No one died but only one woman sustained minor injuries.
“People should not keep inflammable liquids or substances in the house. If they want to keep them they must have a strong storeroom. We suspect the premises were being used to keep large quantities of fuel and if the fire brigade had not responded quickly a lot of lives and property could have been lost,” said Mr Peterson.
Online Reporter