• Fire fighters trying to put out a fire which destroyed a warehouse belonging to Pen Marks.
By CHUSA SICHONE –
THE fire at Penmarks Limited stationery shop in Lusaka, which broke out on Saturday, has continued raging.
A check at Penmarks Limited premises on Cairo Road yesterday revealed firefighters from the Lusaka City Council Fire Brigade at the scene trying to quench the inferno.
The fire has reduced almost all the stationery products in the warehouse to ashes besides causing cracks on the walls.
However, the shop in the stationery and office furniture sections remained open for business.
One of the Penmarks Limited employees found at the scene but refused to be identified said yesterday that the inferno had continued since Saturday and that firefighters had been making frantic efforts to put out the fire despite running out of water from time to time.
“They (Fire Brigade) have been coming. It has been continuous. They left around 04:00 hours this morning (yesterday) to go and refill the engine and now they are back,” he said.
He suspected that the fire could have persisted owing to the stacks of paper which were in the warehouse, coupled with the other stationery products stored there.
Fire Brigade chief fire officer Lawrence Tubi who on Sunday said the inferno had been quenched said yesterday that he could not understand why the fire had continued but said he was likely to give the findings of the investigations later in the day.
