Fire damages 83 military vehicles

Millions of rands worth of military vehicles were damaged in a fire at a vehicle depot at Wallmannstal north of Pretoria last week when safety fires “went wrong” and a military fire truck broke down, Netwerk24 reported.

The fire broke out despite repeated warnings that the grass surrounding the more than 2 000 vehicles was too long and posed a fire danger. Two years ago, 104 vehicles were destroyed in a fire in long grass near another vehicle park, behind the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria.

South African National Defence Force spokesperson Brigadier-General Mafi Mgobozi said 83 vehicles, mainly trucks, were damaged and one was destroyed completely. Mgobozi said it was not possible to determine the value of the damage before the investigation was completed.