An inferno broke out at the Summit restaurant in Menlyn, Pretoria east, and destroyed parts of the upmarket rendezvous.
Speaking to IOL, deputy chief of the Tshwane Emergency Services, Thabo Charles Mabaso said firefighters rushed to the scene in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“The fire at the Summit restaurant was reported to the Tshwane Emergency Services Department at around 4am this morning. Firefighters arrived on the scene to find parts of the second floor, where the music is played and where the sound is stored, on fire,” he said.
“The bottom part, where the restaurant is, as well as the kitchen, were not on fire and were not affected in any way. Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire on the second floor.”
Pretoria - Summit Restaurant Fire (Update) https://t.co/72m9RFUa13 pic.twitter.com/NQTSGkO147
Mabaso said the rooftop area of the business was not affected by the fire.
“No damage was suffered at the rooftop part. It is not known at the moment what caused the fire on the part of the restaurant,” he said.
According to the Tshwane Emergency Services no injuries were recorded at the scene, as the popular rendezvous was closed when the fire broke out.
“Fortunately, there were no injuries or fatalities because at the time, the restaurant was not operational,” said Mabaso.
Earlier, IOL reported that heavy wind storms were experienced in parts of Gauteng on Tuesday night, with reports of destroyed houses and vehicles in some parts, while plunging residents into darkness.
Mabaso said the emergency services had their hands full on Tuesday night, but no fatalities have been recorded.
“Last night, at around 10pm various parts of Tshwane experienced heavy wind storms which uprooted a number of trees in areas like Valhalla, and multiple power outages that were also followed by a number of fire incidents reported in various parts of the city,” he said.
“Some houses and shacks had their roofs blown off in the northern parts of Tshwane.”
Mabaso said shack fires were recorded in some informal settlements in Pretoria east.
“Emergency services had their hands full. Fortunately, there were no injuries or any deaths reported regarding the incidents that were reported to us. Disaster management has been activated to conduct a full assessment of the damage in various parts where the incidents were reported,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, the inclement weather had subsided.
IOL