Bulawayo Fire Brigade Battles Triple Blaze In One Day

The Bulawayo Fire Brigade was stretched to the limit on Monday, tackling three major blazes that left a trail of destruction running into hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

A luxury home in Burnside and a popular lodge along Gwanda Road were gutted, while crews also scrambled to stop veld fires from sweeping into Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport.

At House Number 67 Cathline Lane in Burnside, property valued at around US$500,000 went up in smoke.

Firefighters say the inferno was sparked by illegal burning. The owners, Reid Rowland and his wife, are reportedly away on holiday in Switzerland.

Seven tenders and 35 firefighters fought the blaze for more than three hours, but the property, including household goods and a vehicle, was gutted.

Even as crews battled the Burnside blaze, another call came in—Elephant Lodge, formerly known as Jamaica Inn, 40km outside the city, was also engulfed in flames.

The Lodge, which once hosted the legendary UB40 band, went up in flames just after 2PM. Four tenders and 20 firefighters battled the inferno well into the evening, but nothing was salvaged.

It’s the second time in a year the property, owned by businessman Tony dos Santos, has been destroyed by fire.

Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Mhlangano Moyo said the Burnside fire originated at a neighbouring stand where thickets were being cleared for construction.

The area, in Ward Four, is notorious for fire outbreaks—last year a city fire tender was destroyed while responding to a blaze in the same zone. Said Moyo:

“When we got here, the third structure was well alight, but we managed to save two structures and also nearby properties, that is Whitestone School and the Dabane Water Trust.

“The suspected cause of fire at this point, even though we are still investigating, is that someone at Number 244 Arnold Way was clearing his stand using fire and it went out of control.”

Baye Pigars, a neighbour and Ward Four fire representative, agreed with Moyo that the blaze was sparked by refuse burning by one of the residents. She said:

“We think that there was burning in one of the new stands that has been purchased, where some of the guys were burning refuse that they had cleared to build their property.

“Everyone tried to control the fire, but the winds were too strong. Ward Four is one of the highest zones of fire risks in Bulawayo and when a fire starts here, it’s almost impossible to stop it.”

Environmental Management Authority (EMA) national spokesperson Amkela Sidange said Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 requires all landowners, users, or those in authority over land to adhere to approved fire prevention measures. She said:

“It goes on to say it is a punishable offence for anyone to cause a fire outside a residential or business premises within the specified fire prevention period.

“Anyone who contravenes these statutes shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine that does not exceed level eight or to an imprisonment of a period not exceeding one year or both.

“That, however, does not stop the judiciary authorities from considering other factors that are outside this particular S.I. We appeal to the public not to light fires outside their residential or business premises.

“It’s disturbing that we see flames everywhere, with people clearing their urban farm spaces. We want to make it categorically clear that such activities are illegal.”

More: Chronicle