By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A fire broke out at the University of South Africa (Unisa) Muckleneuk campus on the second floor of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Building after midnight on Wednesday.
The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department responded to the incident at approximately 00.59am.
Fire fighters dispatched to the scene noticed dense smoke billowing from the building even before they arrived at the incident.
City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department spokesperson Thabo Mabaso said firefighters had to force entry into three wooden doors and two steel roller doors to gain access into the building to fight the fire.
He said security officers at the campus assisted by opening other doors with their access cards, enabling firefighters to locate the source of the fire inside the building after battling to open multiple doors and going through stacks of files, books and furniture.
“Firefighters found stacks of books and files that were smouldering in various places on the second floor and extinguished them. Most of the second floor suffered extensive smoke and water damage, and part of the third floor also suffered some smoke damage,” Mabaso said.
The fire fighters used an aerial ladder to open windows and conducted a mechanical ventilation to rid the building of excessive smoke.
Mabaso said according to sources at the scene, a fire had broken out in the same building about two weeks ago and was extinguished by the staff but the emergency services were never notified.
He said the cost of the damage and the cause of the fire was yet to be determined.