Fire at Wonderboom Nature Reserve rages into the early morning hours
“We were warned that some containers petrol were stored at the back of the lapa, which later indeed exploded."
A fire at the Wonderboom Nature Reserve, in the north of Pretoria, that erupted last night, kept firefighters busy until around 01:00 on Friday.
JP Botha, chairperson of Sinoville Firefighting Association, said they received a call for help from the sector 1 CPF around 22:00 last night.
“We’ve been informed that a lapa at Wonderboom Nature Reserve was on fire and that our assistance was needed. We responded immediately.
“We tried to call Tshwane emergency services for assistance, but there seemed to have been a problem at their call centre. We subsequently started to manage the fire.”
According to Botha the lapa was built in an L-shape, and the back of it was on fire when they arrived.
“We were warned that some containers of petrol were stored at the back of the lapa, which later exploded, as well as some containers oil, that we were not warned about.
“The TMPD was also present which managed to contact the Tshwane emergency services, which later arrived and assisted us.”
Botha said the fire was fought on three fronts, mainly to prevent the fire from spreading towards the mountain and surrounding structures.
“Tshwane emergency services also brought more tankers with water, and we used approximately 21 000 litres of water. It was a rather big fire.
“The fact that the lapa had a thatch roof, complicated managing the fire tremendously, and the lapa unfortunately burnt down eventually.”
Botha said the firefighters have however done an excellent job, and left the scene around 01:00.
“The cause of the fire is unknown.”
Tshwane emergency services was yet to comment at the time of publication.
ALSO READ: Crime drop in Sunnyside as law enforcement works together
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
