One person was rushed to hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation following a blaze that broke out at The Gatherings Community Church in Rietvlei Zoo Farm on July 11.

William Ntladi, media liaison for Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) said fire services within the City of Ekurhuleni received a call at 14:59. Alberton Fire Station crews responded swiftly to Rietvlei Zoo Farm on Swartkoppies Road in Alberton for intervention.

“Due to the high magnitude as explained by the caller, backup was activated immediately before arrival on the scene. Palm Ridge and Zonkizizwe fire crews simultaneously responded to the same incident,” he said.

Fire destroys ‘everything’ at church in Rietvlei Zoo Farm pic.twitter.com/dq82sWvwwM

— Alberton Record (@RecordAlberton) July 11, 2024

Ntladi said a church structure, four thatch roof structures, a shop and two storeroom containers, were burnt down.

“Water had to be shuttled from outside the premises to a certain effective fire suppression under windy weather conditions. No casualties were recorded on the scene,” added Ntladi.

Yorick Broom, a pastor at the church, told the Comaro Chronicle the fierce blaze scorched the church, destroying the structure and its equipment.

“I wasn’t here at the time, my son was inside training kids self-defence, and we had some men busy working inside. When the fire started it came from the back corner of the church, apparently, it jumped from the Lapa where they were working. We don’t know what started the fire,” he said.

His son, Jotham, managed to get the children out and still pull out some of the equipment, “But we pretty much-lost everything.” He was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention.

The cause of the blaze is undetermined and still a subject of investigation.

Fire breaks out in Reitvlei Zoo Farm pic.twitter.com/QMiRTNUsZl

— Alberton Record (@RecordAlberton) July 11, 2024