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Sifundiso Ndlovu Chronicle Reporter
FRUITS and vegetables worth about $40,000 were destroyed when a fresh produce market burnt down in Bulawayo’s Central Business District on Wednesday night. Bulawayo chief fire officer Richard Peterson confirmed the incident which left 15 traders stranded. He said the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

National Tested Seeds is leasing the property to Bambanani Fruits.
“I can confirm that we attended a fire at 7.40PM on Wednesday at the portion of Impala Seeds that is being used as a market,” he said.
Peterson said commodities worth about $40,000 were burnt.

“We suspect that the fire which started from a makeshift office, was caused by an electrical fault,” he said
National Tested Seeds operations manager Kirk Emmanuel said he was grateful that the fire brigade managed to put out the fire before it spread to the next building which has stockpiles of fertilisers and chemicals as this could have resulted in a major disaster.

Handsome Sibanda, one of the Bambanani Fruits directors, said after fire fighters had left, the fire started again around 1AM and was put out by guards.

“As you can see all our stock was destroyed so most of us are now stranded as it means raising fresh capital,” he said.
According to statistics released by the Bulawayo Fire Brigade recently, the city has witnessed a sharp increase in fire incidents this year resulting in the destruction of property valued at about $500,000.