A fire at Mountain View Manor in Makhanda on Sunday 7 March* was contained in three rooms. No one was injured.
Owners of the landmark multi-storey guest house on Mountain Drive, Victor and Margaret Banks, were in their house behind the main building and were alerted to the fire by someone ringing the bell at the front gate. There were no guests in the building.
Acting Fire Services Manager Vuyokazi Sam said fire fighters responded quickly after a call around 1.30pm yesterday.
“A Vehicle was dispatched with two fire fighters,” Sam said. “On arrival they found a building in fire.
“They immediately called for backup and two more vehicles were dispatched to the scene.”
The response had been quick and the fire was contained inn two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the west wing of the first floor
“No one was harmed. The fire was discovered after guests had gone,” Sam said.
The cause of the fire is as yet undetermined.
The fire fighters worked hard to save the property,” Sam said.
Sam had a special request to the public.
“Can callers please be specific when reporting fires. Say if it is a building or a veld fire.
“Please also supply as many location references as you can to ensure a quick response and proper allocation of resources to save lives and time.”
The building is a well known landmark in Makhanda. Formerly a sawmill, then the SABC building, it was converted into self-catering accommodation and a boutique hotel around eight years ago and has been operating successfully since.
POSTSCRIPT
I posted something on the group yesterday but cannot seem to find it. The owners of Mountain View wanted to thank the hikers walking by who alerted them to the fire. If it weren’t for them the fire could have spread quickly and who knows what would have happened. So thank you so much we all really appreciate it. We were all in a bit of shock I think so never got your names. Not sure if you’re visitors to town or students. But greatly appreciated.
