Since Saturday three fire incidents have been recorded, with the latest occurring yesterday morning, according to Jones Madeleine, the public relations officer of the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency (SFRSA).

In a press interview held yesterday, Mr Madeleine said the first incident took place on Saturday morning at Constance Lemuria on Praslin whereby a fire broke out in the hotel’s electricity panel.

“Once we got to the scene we had to use carbon dioxide as the fire was in an electrical zone, posing a threat to everyone involved,” said the Public relations officer.

In this particular incident the Public Utilities Company had to be called in to cut off the power supply to that area in order to be able to put out the fire.

“The fire started in the main electrical board, either by a short circuit, a loose connection or corrosion. We are still awaiting a report from PUC in order to determine the exact cause of that fire,” said Mr Madeleine.

The other incident took place Monday evening when a two-bedroom house at Dan Koko, Bel Air completely burned to the ground after a ferocious fire broke out.

“When we got to the scene the house was completely engulfed in flames and this shows that the fire was already at its peak before we got the call. There are many speculations regarding what started the fire and so we are going back to the scene today to conduct further investigation,” he said.

Mr Madeleine also deplored the fact that yesterday the fire hydrant that they were supposed to use to put out the fire was empty. He noted that they are having some issues with fire hydrants and they will need to work in partnership with PUC.

“We also have areas where land transport has covered access points when they re-surface the road so it is a lack of communication that results in situations where we need water from the fire hydrants and we can’t access it,” Mr Madeleine said.

He added that their job as firemen is being made much difficult by the lack of communications from SLTA because as they keep re-surfacing the road the fire hydrants become less and less accessible, noting that they have voiced their concerns but it has fallen on deaf ears.

Mr Madeleine noted that SFRSA alongside PUC will be checking all fire hydrants in the country to make sure that they are accessible, clean and has water.

The third fire which was at Les Mamelles broke out early yesterday morning in the roof of a four-bedroom house also caused by faulty electricals. Luckily Mr Madeleine remarked that the family in the house reacted quickly to put the fire under control.

These three recent cases are some of the many fires that have broken out during the last three months, one resulting in the death of a woman and in which investigations are still being conducted.

With these recent events, Mr Madeleine advised the public to check their wiring and make sure they are not loose and faulty.

 

Christophe Zialor