An afternoon fire at a four-story Duncan Street, Campbellville building, that houses a vulcanizing shop and several apartments, was contained to the top floor.
The fire started just after 2 pm on the top floor which was occupied by foreign nationals. There was no one in the apartment at the time.
Neighbours said the Fire Service responded promptly and went into action, ensuring that the fire did not spread to the other floors of the building or nearby properties.
The owner of the property, Forbes Garraway said he was in his apartment on the second floor when he started to smell something burning. He said at first, he thought it was a nearby building, but upon investigation, he realised that it was his own building.
“I went upstairs with two fire extinguishers because I got like ten of them, and I got into the apartment, but the fire was in the room of itself, and I stomped down the door and it was like an oven and couldn’t have done anything about it because the smoke started to choke me. And, I had to leave it and come out.” Garraway said.
The property owner said while he is happy with the response of the Fire Service, the blaze has still left him counting millions in losses and damages.
The Divisional Fire Commander, Andrew Holder said the cause of the fire is still to be determined. He promised a detailed investigation. He explained that the Fire Service initially faced some hiccups in sourcing water to douse the blaze.
“We tried getting water from a canal but within minutes that was exhausted. Fire hydrants were non-functional, but the Fire Service is currently inspecting and operationalizing fire hydrants throughout the city but I must say that here today, the fire hydrants failed us”, the Fire Commander said.
The Fire Commander said there is a need for high-rise buildings to be properly equipped to deal with fire emergencies.
“I continue to stress the need for proper fire protection in high rise and semi high-rise buildings; in terms of fire extinguisher, smoke alarms”
The fire remains under investigation.
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