Fire fighters and emergency services were summoned to the Islamic Girls School as reports of a fire were made on the morning of December 2. On arrival, they found that the building was engulfed by thick black smoke and huge flames, which were seen flowing out of the building’s roof.

A growing number of by-standers gathered and some tried to assist to extinguish the fire. Fire fighters got to work immediately trying to douse the flames but the contents inside the warehouse made it difficult to extinguish the growing blaze.

The blaze soon became uncontrollable and spread towards the Bata Shoe Factory Warehouse, damaging all the contents within the warehouse. “Due to the fire inside the warehouse, the fire could not be stopped from spreading to the other building,” said Municipal Manager, Nonhlanhla Njoko. The blaze spread into the neighbouring building, which is the Bata Shoe Factory Warehouse. The tin sheeting of the warehouse melted to the ground as fire fighters fought the fire with great efforts.

Social media was alive with photos, videos and eyewitness accounts of the huge fire. Smoke swirled into the air staining the sky for the entire day and alarming many Estcourt residents. Emergency services reported that more fire vehicles were summoned to the scene to assist with extinguishing the fire. According to emergency services no one suffered from any burns. At this point the cause of the fire is unknown and investigations are currently in progress.