Pretoria – A fire broke out at the University of South Africa (Unisa) Muckleneuk Campus on the second floor of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Building in the early hours of Wednesday.
The building caught alight at about 01h00. From a distance, dense smoke could be seen billowing from the burning building.
When firefighters arrived, they found stacks of books and files smoldering in various places on the second floor.
The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department said: “Firefighters had to force entry of three wooden doors and two steel roller doors to gain access into the building”.
Firefighters managed to locate the seat of the fire inside the building after battling to open multiple doors and going through stacks of files, books, and furniture.
Narrating events leading to the dousing of the fire, Thabo Charles Mabaso, a spokesperson for Tshwane Emergency Services, said security officers at the campus “later assisted by opening other doors with their access cards”.
Mabaso added: “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.
“An aerial ladder apparatus was used to open windows, and mechanical ventilation was conducted to rid the building of excessive smoke.”
The cost of the damage has not been quantified, and the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Firefighters on the scene learnt there was a fire at the same building about two weeks ago that was extinguished by the staff.
