Luxury Pearls Apartments: Cause of fire still under investigation

The eThekwini Fire Division is investigating the cause of a fire that started in the early hours of Monday morning 14 June at the luxury Pearls apartment building in Umhlanga, Durban. People in the vicinity of the high-rise apartments observed smoke billowing from the penthouse suite at around 3:00.

NO RESIDENTS INJURED IN PEARLS APARTMENT BLAZE

Shawn Herbst, Media Liaison Officer for the Netcare 911, confirmed a fire started at about 3:00 on the 31st floor of the apartment building. While no fatalities were reported, a security official at the building bravely risked his life to extinguish the fire. He escaped without serious injury and was taken to hospital.

“A security official in the building attempted to douse the fire and was injured in the process, sustaining minor burns and smoke inhalation,” said Herbst.

eThekwini Fire and Rescue Services responded to the emergency and extinguished the fire before it spread to the rest of the building. The family staying at the hotel heard sounds and assumed it was the wind only to discover a fire had started. The fire started in the vicinity of the pool and jacuzzi area.

eThekwini Fire Division Commander, Jay Kanniapten, confirmed that the fire started in the jacuzzi area. Firefighters had to extinguish flames on the wooden deck he said.

“With the quick action of our team, that fire was extinguished, we got it under control and there was no damage to the penthouse itself, just the area on the pool deck where the jacuzzi is,” he said.

According to Kanniapten, no residents were harmed but they had to be evacuated as firefighters arrived on the scene. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, he added.

Visuals circulating on social media showed passers-by and residents converging outside the building. People watched in awe as smoke billowed out of the high-end apartment.