Faulty generators suspected as fire breaks out at Somerset Mall

The City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service said it doused a fire at Somerset Mall on Wednesday night.

Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said they received the emergency call at 10.30pm.

He said people on the N2 highway saw the flames and called for help.

Twenty-five emergency services personnel and six firefighting vehicles attended the scene.

Officers on the scene reported that two generators at the back of the mall’s receiving bay caught alight.

It’s suspected that an electrical fault with the generators caused the fire.

Watch: Fire at Somerset Mall

The fire was extinguished by 11.45pm.

No injuries or major damage was reported.

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Unisa fire

Earlier on Wednesday, a fire broke out at the University of South Africa’s (Unisa’s) Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Building at the Muckleneuk Campus, in Pretoria.

The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department responded to the fire at about 1am.

City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department spokesperson Thabo Mabaso said firefighters had to force entry into three wooden doors and two steel roller doors to gain access into the building to fight the fire.

“Firefighters found stacks of books and files that were smouldering in various places on the second floor and extinguished them. Most of the second floor suffered extensive smoke and water damage, and part of the third floor also suffered some smoke damage,” Mabaso said.

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