In a classical movie style operation, Bulawayo’s Fire Brigade yesterday broke a record for excellence, since independence, after they responded to a fire alert call, within less than five minutes effectively saving a restaurant from destruction.
A thick cloud of smoke and a blistering flame were seen bursting from the inside Ubuntu restaurant which is at the corner of 6^th Avenue and Lobengula Street amid rising flickering flames, prompting witnesses to call the Bulawayo Fire Brigade.
The fire service swiftly drove to the scene in less than 190 seconds. As witnesses gathered around the building, the sudden arrival of the fire service was if they had smelt the flames from afar.
Their station is more than 5 kilometres away and it was not clear if they were coming straight from the depot.
“I just called them and within a timeframe of five minutes, they were here and they quickly extinguished the fire before any damage occurred. The fire which was caused by an electric fault was put off in seconds of their arrival,” said Mrs Vhuramai Mhofu a vendor who was at the site.
According to the Chief Fire fighter who was at the scene, “Bulawayo Fire fighters do not waste time on such calls. We are a professional department and we also aim to avoid losses at all levels; that’s why we respond swiftly to calls,” he said.
In 2011, Bulawayo Fire fighters received specialist training including five fire fighting vehicles from Manchester, UK, after one of their former staff members who is now based in Leicester Davie Ndlovu facilitated the donation.
The owner of Ubuntu restaurant who arrived at the shop after a while could not respond to ZimEye.com, as she was caught in a state of shock by the unexpected incident.