Tsumeb fire claims home and pharmacy

THE Tsumeb pharmacy and a house located on the second storey of the same building were destroyed by a fire late on Monday night.

The fire’s origin is unconfirmed but a community member said yesterday that the strong winds experienced across the country in the past week played a critical role.According to Buys Steenkamp, co-owner of the pharmacy, the pharmacy was completely destroyed. Steenkamp’s business partner, Andre Horn, who lived with his family above the pharmacy, lost all his family’s belongings in the fire. ‘Everything was literally burnt to the ground,’ Steenkamp said. He expressed relief that the Horn family managed to escape unhurt, but added that the family was left with only the clothes they were wearing when the fire began. ‘Luckily no one was hurt,’ he said. He explained that due to insurance inspections due shortly, he could not speculate on the financial losses or the cause of the fire.Acting Fire Brigade Chief Matthew Shikewa said yesterday that the first alert came in at approximately 22h45 on Monday night. He said the building was up in flames when the fire engines arrived and said the ‘wind helped the fire along tremendously’.He said the fire ruined most of the contents of the building but mercifully the people who were asleep when the fire started were able to escape unhurt.