PROPERTY worth thousands of dollars was destroyed after a fire engulfed a commercial building housing over ten shops in Chipinge Tuesday afternoon.
Panic gripped the town of Chipinge after the building housing hardware and electrical gadgets caught fire.
One of the shops was completely engulfed by the inferno, while others were partially damaged.
“We just saw fire flames on this building, but we are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire.
“A lot of goods have been burnt. The people of Chipinge are united as we managed to bring out a lot of goods from the shops to reduce losses.
“We are saddened by the outbreak of fire, but we give credit to the fire tenders for putting of the fire. Without their response, the damage could have been greater,” Chipinge residents said.
There was also a swift response by the Civil Protection unit with fire tenders arriving at the scene in time to salvage the situation.
“We commend the Civil Protection Unit for their swift response. The fire was intense, but our fire tenders from both the Town Council and the RDC managed to contain it before spreading further.
“Reports say one of the batteries exploded, and there are a lot of hardware and plastics and other flammable materials that made the fire quickly escalate.
“Only one shop out of ten was completely gutted,” said Chipinge District Development Coordinator, William Mashava.
While the cause of the fire is still being investigated, the full extent of the damage is yet to be confirmed.
ZBC
