WITNESSES in the Usindiso Commission of Inquiry testified that the deadly fire had started from the ground floor in the hall and spread to other levels of the building.
The magnitude of the fire was so intense that it destroyed the window frame, rushing through the door on the west side of the building and spreading right through the staircase, lobby and rooms.
This is what Captain Lesiba Mokubela attached in the South African Police Service to the Chemistry Section, Fire Investigation Subsection at the forensic Science laboratory had to say.
His testimony was from the forensic fire scene investigation he had been instructed to conduct.
This investigation investigated the possible causes of the fire in which the ‘multi-store multi-room structure compromised of brick walls and reinforced concrete columns.
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Accidental causes included, among other things, artificial heating, including two plate or paraffin stoves and burnt candle lamps.
They could not be proven or disproven as fluorescent light holders and lighting, which could be excluded as the cause of the fire as they were either not in use or available.
Keeping accidental causes as a possibility the cause, Mokubela also added that incendiary fire causes could not be excluded as the possible causes of the fire.
“The possibility of the fire being caused deliberately was considered because access to the hall was not controlled.
“Taking into consideration the lack of physical evidence such as trailers and exotic accelerants, which may provide physical evidence of an incendiary fire cause. Incendiary fire cause could not be proven nor disproven,” he said.
Further investigation into the fire also saw several fire hydrant systems being tampered with.
“Water pipelines were connected to the hydrant system to continuously supply water to the tenants in the building. The unauthorized connection of water pipelines on the hydrant systems was observed on the ground floor all the way to the third floor."
He also added that the electric conductors were illegally connected to the transformer.
"At the same time, there were no operating fuses and circuit breakers to protect the electric circuit from possible damages that may be caused by overcurrent or overload," he added.
