Veld fire destroys Bulawayo house

FIRE fighter yesterday could not stop a mysterious Veld fire from destroying a thatched double storey house in Bulawayo's Riverside suburb due to the windy conditions and long grass surrounding the home leading to loss of property worth thousands of dollars.

.The cause of the fire remains a mystery although one resident said it was first spotted on a hill in Lochview and fire fighters from Famona Fire Station were called.

The firemen from Famona fire station fought the fire but could not stop it due to wind.

However, the fire brigade managed to prevent the flames from gutting two nearby houses.

The owner of the house, Bester Ncube, was said to be in Botswana and his cottage tenant Mtatshwelwa Donga said the fire came from the Lochview direction eating up the dry grass towards their property.

"The fire was coming towards our neighbour and l told them to inform me if they could not cope with it since it seemed small," he said.

"When I returned to check, I saw fire in the yard. We managed to stop the fire and one fire man returned to Lochview and then we saw fire from another direction. As we were putting it out, l heard a neighbour shouting that our roof had caught fire."

A neighbour, Grace Ncube, said the problem with the damaged house was that the yard had long dry grass and trees.

 "We took some buckets to try and put the fire out, but it was too much for us and the fire tender had to come to our yard to try and contain the fire," she said.

Another fire destroyed property and two rooms of a Nkulumane house close to Munyoro shopping centre yesterday. The cause of that fire is not known.