One of Boksburg’s popular eateries was gutted by fire on September 1, leaving the business destroyed and several employees temporarily without work, reports Boksburg Advertiser.

Grills & More Roadhouse & Pizzeria on Leeupoort Street in the Boksburg CBD caught fire after heated cooking oil in a commercial deep fryer reportedly ignited.
Staff and customers were safely evacuated.

According to restaurant manager Alain Kaparay, the fire started in a fryer containing about 25 litres of cooking oil. An attempt was made to extinguish the blaze with a fire extinguisher, but it reportedly failed to work.

“I then got a second one from our neighbour across the road and started to fight the fire, but it was too late, as the fire eventually reached the ceiling and rapidly spread through the premises,” he said.

About 12 LPG cylinders, some of them containing 48kg of gas, were also stored at the back of the premises and had to be removed as firefighters battled the blaze.

Delayed response claims

Bobby Marilli, the man behind the Boksburg 911 initiative, a local group that assists with escalating emergency information to relevant responders, praised the assistance received from private responders, including ADT, but criticised the City of Ekurhuleni’s “delayed” response.

He said the city was notified about the fire, but municipal firefighters only arrived at about 09:20, after the incident was reported just before 09:00.

“The City of Ekurhuleni arrived at 09:20, yet their station is virtually two minutes away from the scene,” he said.

Marilli also claimed two municipal fire trucks had to respond from outside Boksburg because Boksburg Central did not have an operational fire engine.
“If there is no private help, we are in trouble,” he said.

An anonymous source with knowledge of the situation said resource constraints were placing additional pressure on firefighters and affecting morale.

At the time of publication, DEMS had not yet responded to the claims regarding the alleged delay in the municipal response or the lack of resources, including an operational fire engine at Boksburg Central Fire Station.

However, DEMS media liaison officer Eric Maloka said the service received the emergency call at approximately 08:53, with crews from Boksburg Central and Germiston fire stations responding.

He said firefighters found the restaurant well alight on arrival and immediately requested additional resources.
“Firefighters launched an aggressive attack on the blaze, while other crews worked defensively to prevent the fire from spreading to neighbouring structures,” said Maloka.

He confirmed that the 12 LPG cylinders were successfully isolated and moved to a safe area.
DEMS said the manager initially attempted to extinguish the oil fire with a fire extinguisher that was reportedly not functioning and then poured water onto the oil, aggravating the blaze.

Fire leaves workers without jobs

Meanwhile, management at the roadhouse is dealing with its insurers and hopes to begin rebuilding as soon as possible.

Kaparay said the priority was to repair the facility, reopen and bring the affected employees back to work.
“We have to push as fast as we can and start to operate,” he said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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