Two houses were destroyed by fire on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning – one at Forêt Noire and the other at La Misère respectively.

With regard to the La Misère fire on Monday, Jones Madeleine, public relations officer for the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency (SFRSA), noted that they received the call at around 8.32am and it took around ten minutes for firemen to get to the scene. However, they were not able to park the fire truck close to the house and it took them a few minutes to unroll the hose pipe.

“It took us about 15 minutes to get the fire under control and an hour to put it out completely. We had to use over 300 metres of hose pipe to reach the house,” said Mr Madeleine.

He added the living room area was not heavily affected compared to the rest of the house.

The district administrator for Grand Anse Mahé, Greg Leon, and the member of the National Assembly, Hon. Waven William, assisted in making arrangements for the family.

Mr William also thanked all parties involved in putting out the fire, adding that with the cooperation of the Seychelles Red Cross and the Agency for Social Protection (ASP) the family will be assisted.

He also noted that they are in talks with the ministry for housing to provide a temporary house for the family.

The house which was owned by Marguerite Joaneau and her family was partially destroyed in the fire.

The family of five is for the time being accommodated at the Reef Holiday Apartment at Barbarons.

Julina Albert, the owner of Reef Apartment, said that for years now they have been assisting fire victims with temporary housing, adding that they supply all the daily necessities the family needs and she is always in contact with district administrators.

Witnesses at the site of the fire said they saw heavy smoke coming from the house.

Jacqueline Larue, one of the neighbours, stated that some onlookers tried going into the house to save some furniture but were unsuccessful.

The fire at Forêt Noire on Sunday afternoon completely destroyed an empty house. The cause of the fire was accidental as the homeowner's son had set a small fire next to the house to burn rubbish and it got out of control.

Mr Madeleine said they received the call at around 3.30pm and dispatched three fire trucks and ten firemen to the house.

It took them around four minutes to get to the scene, 10 minutes to get the fire under control and 45 minutes to put it out completely.

 

Compiled by Christophe Zialor