It is still unclear what caused a fire that engulfed the entire top floor and roof of a Braampark office park building just before 2pm on 18 April.
According to witnesses working inside the building, the fire started shortly after a deep bang on the top floor could be heard.
“After the sound, there was commotion and smoke. Everyone started to vacate.”
The witness said the City of Johannesburg’s fire department arrived 10 to 15 minutes after it started and cars parked in the basement were later retrieved by employees after it was deemed safe enough to do so.
A department spokesperson, Synock Matobako, said they received a call around 2pm and found the building alight on arrival. They started searching for possible trapped people, but could not find anyone.
“The first fire engine arrived, but there was no water in fire hydrants around the building, so we sourced water from around the block,” he said.
Matobako said they will look into the reason why the fire hydrants had no water.
The South African Police service will now investigate the cause of fire. Property managers representing the building’s landlord, said they will comment in due course. Matobako confirmed that due to swift evacuation, no one was injured.
Receive breaking news and updates by becoming a member of our WhatsApp community. Send your name and surname to 079 439 5345.
