By Flata Kavinga
Property valued at approximately US$4 000 was destroyed after a house in Kwekwe’s Mbizo 9 suburb caught fire on Monday this week, in an incident suspected to have been caused by an electrical fault.
The house belongs to Chana B Primary School head, Shumirai Manamike.
A relative, Yolanda Mwanza, told this publication that the fire started in one of the spare bedrooms before spreading to other rooms.
“We were in the kitchen doing household chores when we saw some smoke and thought someone was burning something next door,” said Mwanza. “We later went outside after noticing the intensity of the smoke, but there was no fire at the neighbour’s house.”
She said the family then noticed smoke coming from the house chimney and upon opening one of the bedrooms, found it already on fire.
“We used water buckets to put out the fire in that bedroom and thought the situation was under control,” Mwanza said. “However, later we saw smoke coming out of another bedroom which was already on fire beyond our control.”
Mwanza said neighbours responded swiftly after being alerted and helped to contain the fire using water buckets and hosepipes.
By the time the Kwekwe Fire Brigade arrived, the fire had largely subsided, although one of the bedrooms had its roof partially caving in. Firefighters ensured the blaze was fully extinguished and the situation brought under control.
A visibly shaken Manamike thanked neighbours for their quick response, which prevented the fire from spreading to other rooms in the house.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
