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Mere hours after firefighters had put out flames at the Tshedza Guest Lodge in Jeppe Street and the piece of vacant land in Krogh Street, they were called out to this house fire in Eltivillas

Fires just bad luck?

 

Is mere bad luck to blame, or is there something more sinister behind the recent spate of structural fires in Louis Trichardt?

Louis Trichardt was literally on fire this week, with several fires blazing through the region and another Louis Trichardt family losing their home because of it.

One of the first fires was reported early on Monday morning, fortunately with no devastating effects, at the Tshedza Guest Lodge in Jeppe Street. The management of the lodge said on Monday that the fire had not caused widespread damage and local firemen were able to contain the fire quickly.

While still attending to the fire at Tshedza, local firemen were called out to another fire, this time in Krogh Street, that was threatening to spread to private homes and businesses. The fire on the piece of vacant land bordering Da Silva Pharmacy had earlier been used as a parking lot for the Sticky Toffee Coffee Shop, before it closed down.

The fire is suspected to have started when a heap of garden refuse was set alight. The windy conditions were almost perfect and the flames quickly spread. Fortunately, the firemen were able to control this fire, too, before it could spread into neighbouring gardens and homes.  

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of a fire that broke out at a day-care centre in Eltivillas.

The school reported the structural fire on Monday afternoon, but when the firemen arrived on the scene, the flames had already destroyed the school. The fire had also spread to the rest of the premises, which doubles as a private home.

It took considerable effort by the firemen to prevent the flames from causing more damage to the remainder of the property. While they were busy putting out the fire, neighbours and friends came to assist the family to salvage their household contents. The fire’s fury could eventually be stopped with all the help that had arrived.

At the time of our going to press, the Makhado Police had yet to confirm whether they had opened dockets for further investigation into the two structural fires in Jeppe Street and Eltivillas. According to the Makhado Fire Station, it is standard practise for the police to investigate a structural fire. In the fire brigade’s experience, house fires are most often caused by faulty electrical connections, especially during the summer months. The station’s experience has been that residents overload plug outlets by connecting too many appliances such as electric fans to one outlet. Another culprit is electrical wiring hidden away underneath carpets.

Fortunately, nobody was injured in any of the fires. The structural fires the past week follow almost exactly a month after a devastating fire had destroyed the home of the Naudé family at the Ledig-turnoff from the N1.

Monday's windy conditions quickly spread the flames from this burning heap of garden refuse on a piece of vacant land in Krogh Street, threatening private homes and businesses.

A local firefighter quickly brings a veldt fire under control in Krogh Street.

 

Date:14 November 2016

By: Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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