DURBAN – EThekwini Municipality Acting Mayor, Nomvuzo Shabalala, has expressed sympathy to members of the Durban Christian Centre church following a raging fire that almost gutted the Jesus Dome building in Buro Crescent, Mayville last night, 7 June 2016.
Members of the Executive Committee led by Shabalala will visit the church today, 8 June 2016, at 14h00 with a team from the City’s Fire Department to inspect the extent of the damage.
City Fire received a call about the fire at 17h39 and within minutes dispatched four fire engines and a turntable ladder that arrived at the scene at 17h52 during the afternoon peak hour traffic. Emergency services say the main auditorium of the church was fully engulfed in the blaze when the firefighters began putting out the flames.
“Our prayers are with the congregants of church for this unfortunate incident and we are grateful that there were no fatalities,” said Shabalala.
Shabalala also applauded the heroic efforts by the City Fire personnel for their swift action to contain the raging blaze.
“We must commend our emergency personnel for their quick response, within an hour the raging flames were brought under control. It is clear in the images shown that the fire was out of control but they managed to handle the situation very well and prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the church structure.”
While the roof of the main auditorium collapsed, some offices and other structures in the vicinity were not engulfed by the raging flames.
City Fire specialists and the South African Police Services are currently investigating the cause of the fire.