Petrol truck burns at Puma filling station
Bonte Seepi | Monday November 3, 2014 18:44
People who witnessed the incident told Monitor that the fire began with a spark under the truck, which quickly spread into a big flame.
When the Monitor team arrived at the scene, the whole truck had caught fire.
There was no one in or around the filling station except the Fire Department and Emergency services workers who were trying to control the fire.
According to Palapye Police Station Commander, Superintendent Waboraro Ramaja, the fire started before 5:00 pm and ended at around 7:00 pm.
Ramaja said the truck driver managed to escape the fire, and that there were no casualties.
“The fire lasted for almost two and half hours, but there were no casualties. I can confirm that the driver was alone in the truck when the fire started. So he also managed to escape the fire,” Ramaja said.
Ramaja also told this publication that they had not yet established what might have been the cause of the fire since no one was seen holding matches or smoking near the area.
“The truck and the fuel which the truck was carrying are the only properties that I can confirm now that they got damaged.
The Puma building was not affected in any way by the fire, even the Palapye Development Trust which is at the back of Puma and very close to it didn’t catch fire,” Ramaja explained.
Ramaja said that they are going to establish in their investigations if it is safe for the filling station to operate while construction process is on-going.
“We are not in a position to tell if it is safe or not for business like filling station to operate while construction is going on because we don’t have the necessary skills to judge that. But we are going to try and establish that in our investigations,” Ramaja said.
Efforts to reach Puma Energy Filling Station Officials and Palapye Fire Department and Emergency Services hit a snag as they were said to be busy with investigations.
Puma is currently undergoing renovations.