Cape Town - This weekend proved to be a particularly eventful one for the City’s firefighters after fires broke out in two historic buildings in the city – a church and a school.
A fire was started in St George’s Cathedral, where late Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s remains were buried, in the early hours of Sunday, allegedly by an arsonist who fled the scene.
City Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said an emergency call was received at 1.52am reporting smoke billowing from the basement of the cathedral.
He said the person required to open the cathedral had to travel from Pinelands to unlock the doors.
“Eventually permission was given to break one of the steel bars to gain access to the basement where the rubbish was burning,” Carelse said.
He said the fire was extinguished at 3.54am, and that there had been no damage to the structure of the building.
The dean of the cathedral, Reverend Michael Weeder, said their preliminary investigation showed that a burning cotton ball had been thrown into the basement through a barred window near the steps leading up to the cathedral’s main entrance.
Tutu’s remains were interned at the cathedral on January 2, just blocks away from Parliament, which was also set ablaze on the day he was buried.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said an arson case had been opened for investigation. He said reports indicated that a member of the public saw a fire in the basement of the church and alerted security. No one had been arrested.
A few hours before the fire at St George's Cathedral, firefighters were called to Chapel Street Primary School on Saturday afternoon after a fire broke out in its storage room.
The City’s fire and rescue service had received an emergency call at 1.12pm reporting that a building was on fire in Searle Street, Zonnebloem, Carelse said.
He said the first crew on the scene from Salt River confirmed it to be a school outbuilding that had caught alight. Several other firefighting teams from Roeland Street and Brooklyn were also sent to the scene.
“The building and its contents – consisting of printing machines, garden equipment and old shelving – were destroyed,” Carelse said.
He said no injuries were reported and the fire was extinguished at 3.20pm on Saturday. The cause of the fire was undetermined.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said teaching and learning at the school would continue as normal.
She said that thankfully the fire had been contained to a disused shed at the back of the school.
“Fire services were on the scene, and the area has been cordoned off for safety reasons. The cause of the blaze is unknown at this stage,” she said.
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