News / National
One person injured as refueling car catches fire
28 Oct 2020 at 16:24hrs | Views
A two- tonne truck was reduced to a shell after it caught fire at a service station in Zvishavane on Monday night.
The driver Mr John Mhike sustained minor burns and was discharged from hospital after receiving medical attention.
The truck caught fire at Tafa Service Station near Zvishavane District Hospital. Zvishavane chief fire officer, Mr Rerai Muchera said the fire team reacted swiftly and managed to put out the blaze before it could spread to other parts of the service station. He said they were still working with the police to establish the cause of the fire.
"We managed to avert a potential disaster at a service station last night. We responded to a call that a truck, which was refuelling at the garage had caught fire and we rushed to the scene.
"When we got there motorists that were at the garage were in a panic while the truck was engulfed in flames. We managed to put out the fire before it could spread around the garage but the truck was reduced to a shell," he said.
Mr Machera said luckily there was no fuel at the garage when the incident occurred. He said the motorists were buying fuel from dealers who were selling fuel from containers.
"The other information is that we got was that these fuel dealers were now competing for clients who come and park at the garage intending to re-fuel so we are not sure what triggered the fire but the garage owner is saying there was no fuel in the underground tanks. He told us that there were some dealers who were now using his garage as their base and selling their fuel at below the pump price.
Motorists frequent the garage in search of cheaper petrol so there has been a danger that a fire outbreak would occur so we are deploying municipal police to clear the fuel dealers at the garage," said Mr Muchera.
The driver Mr John Mhike sustained minor burns and was discharged from hospital after receiving medical attention.
The truck caught fire at Tafa Service Station near Zvishavane District Hospital. Zvishavane chief fire officer, Mr Rerai Muchera said the fire team reacted swiftly and managed to put out the blaze before it could spread to other parts of the service station. He said they were still working with the police to establish the cause of the fire.
"We managed to avert a potential disaster at a service station last night. We responded to a call that a truck, which was refuelling at the garage had caught fire and we rushed to the scene.
Mr Machera said luckily there was no fuel at the garage when the incident occurred. He said the motorists were buying fuel from dealers who were selling fuel from containers.
"The other information is that we got was that these fuel dealers were now competing for clients who come and park at the garage intending to re-fuel so we are not sure what triggered the fire but the garage owner is saying there was no fuel in the underground tanks. He told us that there were some dealers who were now using his garage as their base and selling their fuel at below the pump price.
Motorists frequent the garage in search of cheaper petrol so there has been a danger that a fire outbreak would occur so we are deploying municipal police to clear the fuel dealers at the garage," said Mr Muchera.
Source - the herald
