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By Staff Reporter
A CHINHOYI entrepreneur is counting losses after his shop caught fire resulting in the destruction of thousands worth of merchandise, including household appliances and furniture.
The unfortunate incident happened Sunday evening in full of glare of the unidentified owner, who was outside the premises.
It is suspected the fire was triggered by an electrical fault blamed on the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), which switches power on and off without notice.
Chinhoyi Member of Parliament, Leslie Mhangwa visited the site and noted shortcomings on the part of emergency services.
“I am yet to confirm but those that came earlier than myself exclaimed that there was a delay as the team, which arrived after one hour, struggled to get the operation of the new fire tenders correct.
“It may be worthwhile to have retraining of our fire fighters. A further delay was attributed to the hydrant being in Orange grove. We need to rescuscitate hydrants nearby,” said the legislator.
The MP, an engineer by profession, reiterated the need for buildings to be fire compliant.
“The damage was extensive. Nothing can be salvaged from the shop. The next shops were saved because the wall separating the two is a fire wall and they don’t share a ceiling.
“Our town is relatively old and chances are the cause of the fire is an electric fault. As landlords its imperative that after 20-30 we rewire our buildings.
“Insulation in buildings fail with time and this is a major cause of fires. Buildings need to be electrically compliant. For buildings it may be worthwhile to invest in fire detection and suppression systems. Most buildings in Chinhoyi are not fire compliant,” Mhangwa said.
