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By Michelle Jones

As firefighters gear up for another day of searing temperatures on Monday, they will be investigating the causes of a number of blazes which damaged a historic building and burnt vegetation over the weekend.

Popular Thai restaurant Chai-Yo and other businesses were damaged when a Little Mowbray building caught fire on Saturday evening. No one was injured in the blaze.

The historic Campground Centre, on the corner of Raapenberg and Campground roads, had its first floor gutted, and extensive water and smoke damage downstairs, after an apparent electrical fault set the building on fire.

And on Sunday night, when temperatures cooled, the wind picked up, causing police and fire brigade members to seal off Raapenberg Road when a gale-force south-easter ripped the burnt iron roof sheets off the centre and sent them crashing into the road below.

 




The centre, which also houses, among others, African Kaleidoscope Events and Ocean Fresh Fish, was deserted earlier yesterday, the smell of smoke still in the air.

Somchart Jirachareonkul, owner of Chai-Yo, said he had been shocked when he saw the extent of the damage.

The fire started at about 5:30 on Saturday evening.

"The staff started to smell the smoke from upstairs. They went upstairs to investigate but couldn't find anything," Jirachareonkul said.

They assumed the smoke had been from a braai, but then smoke had started coming down the stairs from the events company.

After the fire department left at around 8pm, Jirachareonkul cleared some of the water from the premises. "The upstairs is the most damaged. The storeroom is all gone," Jirachareonkul said.

African Kaleidoscope Events managing member Alison Barnard said yesterday the company had been "quite badly" affected by the fire.

According to the owner of the building, who asked not to be named, the fire department had said an electrical fault had occurred in the upstairs offices of the events company. The top section of the building was "gutted", he said.

Despite extensive damage to the top storey, he hoped that within a week to 10 days damage to the bottom floor would be repaired, if the building was certified by inspectors. Chai-Yo and Ocean Fresh Fish would then be able to reopen, he said.

An operator at the city's fire department said there had been several small vegetation fires on Monday. The fires in Morning Star, Melkbos, Khayelitsha and Eerste Rivier were all under control

michelle.jones@inl.co.za
This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on December 08, 2008