Police cordoned off Dr Jacob Zuma Drive on Sunday night after dozens of onlookers narrowly missed being crushed by a wall that collapsed as a fire blazed out of control.
Police cordoned off Dr Jacob Zuma Drive on Sunday night after dozens of onlookers narrowly missed being crushed by a wall that collapsed as a fire blazed out of control.
By 6.40pm on Sunday, flames were leaping through the central part of the roof of Broadway Cash and Carry in Jarvis Street and as the flames tore through the building there were frequent bursts as aerosol cans and gas cannisters exploded.
Yesterday morning, the ashes of his once thriving business still smouldering behind him, owner Waseem Nawaz was visibly distressed when he spoke to Grocott's Mail.
Nawaz lost his entire stock in the thriving business he has rapidly built up over the past two and a half years. He said his business was not insured.
A call from Hi-Tec security company around 4.20 on Sunday afternoon had been the first indication something might be amiss, Nawaz said. Checking the premises, however, the guards detected nothing out of place.
Nawaz received a second call around 6.10pm and rushed over to his business just off Dr Jacob Zuma Drive to find that a fire had started near the cold room, close to the rear entrance of his bulk goods wholesale business.
The fire fighters arrived soon after at the front entrance of the building.
Nawaz's bitterness comes from his belief that the fire hydrant used to douse the flames had too little pressure to be effective.
He also believes the fire quickly spread out of control because the firemen couldn't properly reach the source of the fire.
He said they had declined his request to move around to the rear entrance, where he believed they would have been able to reach the flames better.
He said the fire-hydrant on Jarvis Street, among those recently installed throughout the city, did not have sufficient pressure.
Flames were leaping through the central part of the roof by 6.40pm and at 7.09pm a large section of the front wall collapsed, narrowly missing the dozens of onlookers who had begun to gather in the parking area in the front of the main entrance.
Local authorities quickly cordoned off Dr Jacob Zuma Drive and most of the front parking lot, where fire trucks had to manoeuvre to get into place.
Fire fighters put themselves in the firing line – literally – as the flames melted gaping holes through the roof, twisted large supporting girders and caused further sections of the front wall to crumble dangerously to the ground.
As the flames tore through the building there were frequent bursts of small explosions as aerosol cans and gas cannisters exploded.
Makana Municipality Fire Department was able to put their recently acquired fire truck to good use, as the fire department and members of the army worked through the night to douse the fire.
The trucks repeatedly pumped water on to the building and then sped away to refill their tanks. Nawaz is not convinced that the fire was accidental.
He believes someone passing by could have thrown a burning object into the building near the cold room. He says he is now awaiting the outcome of a forensic investigation.
At the time of going to press, the municipal spokesperson was not available to comment on concerns raised by Nawaz about water pressure at the Jarvis Street fire-hydrant.
