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Fire crews respond to eight fires in the Mangaung CBD, Bloemfontein
“During the past six weeks the Mangaung Fire Department’s Central Fire Station was called out to eight fires in the Bloemfontein CBD”, said Braam van Zyl, divisional officer at Mangaung Fire Department. “Seven of these fires were in the same building and one was in the adjacent building in the same street. The two buildings belong to the same owner. The well-known eight storey building situated in Meriam Makeba Street housed the prestige Bloemfontein Club for years and later served as the head office of the Bloemfontein Celtic Soccer Club. The building is currently vacant.”
“These seven fires were caused by criminals who broke into the vacant building, vandalised it and set it alight. One fire was in the lower basement (abandoned car) and the rest were on the ground floor (two fires), fifth floor (two fires), six floor and eight floor. For the latter to fires it was necessary to apply the 40m hydraulic platform”, said Van Zyl. “During the early hours of Thursday, 24 November 2022, the fire department was called out to the adjacent six storey NBC building. On arrival, it was found that the ground floor was engulfed in flames. It took 14 fire fighters with four fire engines and 150 000 litres of water, three hours to extinguish the fire. A hair salon, a cell phone shop and their store rooms were totally destroyed. A restaurant and a Capitec Bank branch were partly destroy”, added Van Zyl. Photos: Danie Pretorius Source: Braam van Zyl, Divisional Officer (Curator Fire Brigade Museum), Mangaung Fire and Rescue Services |
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