POPULAR grocery shop Super-Save was temporarily closed yesterday after a fire and sweltering heat caused substantial damage to its butchery section and its storeroom. The owners said they hoped they would be back in business by today.
The fire started at about 11 pm on Wednesday and is believed to have caused damage of up to R5 million.
The fire started in the butchery section of the shop and spread to the storeroom above the butchery, melting almost everything inside the store including fridges, meat trays and soft drink crates.
When The Witness visited the store yesterday morning, it still smelt of smoke, with some sections of the store without electricity.
The butchery section was completely gutted and the employees were working frantically to clean up the store and wipe away the traces of smoke damage.
Owner of the store, Abu Khatib, said he was still confused about the incident. He said the fire itself was relatively small; it was the sweltering heat that caused most of the damage.
“We were called here at about 11, and when we got here all we saw was smoke coming from the store. We saw no fire. If there was fire, it would have gutted the store.”
Khatib said he suspects that something sparked the fire, but due to a lack of oxygen, the fire did not spread, but the intense heat melted everything.
He said because the fire did not cause significant structural damage to the shop, they hoped to begin trading again by today.
“The only section that will not be operating will be the butchery because there everything there has been destroyed, and we have to get new equipment,” said Khatib.
The fire department could not comment on the fire as it was not clear who attended to it.
