Over a month after Eskom personnel caused a fire that badly damaged Inry Kwekery in the Fochville area, the nursery has still not received any feedback from the power utility.

According to the owner, Ms Gail Button, an Eskom employee had worked on the transformer next to the nursery on 14 March.

“We had problems with our power before that, and they had to replace the transformer because it was so old that they could not find parts anymore,” says Button.

Unfortunately, while the Eskom technician was working on the transformer, an electrical cable came loose, and the sparks set the grass alight.
From there, the fire spread rapidly due to strong winds. At times, the flames rose so high that they charred branches of gum trees next to the nursery, over four metres from the ground.

Although Button called the fire department, the blaze completely gutted the nursery’s storage area where they stored items like pots, bags and gardening equipment. It also damaged the shade cloth on numerous greenhouses and the fence.

Button had to replace the fence because thieves started getting into the premises at night, but none of the other damage, estimated at R780,000, can be fixed until Eskom sends someone to assess the damage.

“Although the technician immediately acknowledged that he had started the fire, and Eskom supplied a claim number, we cannot do anything more until their maintenance and operations department comes to investigate. Meanwhile, we must run the nursery without these things,” says Button.
The Herald has seen emails where Eskom acknowledges receiving her correspondence.

We contacted Eskom with the case number they supplied to Button but did not receive feedback by printing time.