From thatch to ash
A thatched roof lapa inexplicably went up in flames in Steve Biko Street on Monday night.
Ms Yvonne Dladla, owner of the home, says that they saw smoke shortly after 17:00 on Monday and alerted the fire brigade who rushed to the scene.
According to local fire and rescue services the cause of the fire could not be established yet.
An investigation will be conducted and a report will be compiled in due course.
Ms Dladla says that she’s convinced that the fire had started accidentally.
“There were some electrical appliances kept in the lapa and it probably was an electrical short,” she told the Observer.
She says that they detected the fire as soon as it started and succeeded in saving most of the appliances from the lapa before the roof went up in flames.
The fire brigade quickly brought the situation under control but not before most of the lapa’s roof had been destroyed.
Firefighters have to fork out most of the thatch where smouldering grass can easily reignite.
Ms Dladla, who has been living in the house the past eleven years, says she will definitely rebuild the lapa and the fire brigade advised her to treat the thatch with fire repellent chemicals to avoid future disaster.
