Property worth thousands of dollars destroyed in petrol-diesel fire

SIX people were luck to escape death when property worth thousands of dollars, which included two trucks was destroyed by fire yesterday at a house in Bulawayo's Emganwini suburb where 41 drums of fuel were kept.

Property 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 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 precast 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 diesel in the drums was for the commuter omnibuses and trucks we own," said Mr Sibangilizwe Ndlovu, the brother of the owner of the house.

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.

"Neighbours knocked down the wall and managed to save a 25-seater bus that was parked inside. The fire was ferocious because about 40 drums of diesel caught fire," she said.

A family spokesperson, Ms Celesile Jophe, said the family was still in shock following the incident.

"We were sitting in the house while some people outside were offloading diesel from the drums to the truck and all of a sudden the whole house was engulfed in flames. We came out running and survived by jumping over the wall but we sustained minor injuries as we were scratched by the razor wire," said Ms Jophe.

Bulawayo City Council chief fire officer, Mr Richard Peterson said the cause of the fire was still to be ascertained.

"We received an alert at 12.51pm and rushed to the scene. Two of the six-roomed house, a 10-tonne and a seven-tonne truck and about 40 drums of fuel were destroyed. No one died but only one woman sustained minor injuries.

"The house caught fire when a bucket that was being used to transfer petrol from the drums  on the ground to drums on one of the trucks caught fire, Mr Peterson.

"We are still investigating the cause of the fire but we suspect a source of heat might have ignited the petrol."

He warned members of public against keeping inflammable liquids as they were dangerous.

"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.