Ministry of Defence still not sure what started fire in their health facility
In its update to the public regarding the fire outbreak that occurred on 12 June at their health facility, the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs said the fire left the theatre, the store, emergency department and four wards of 26 beds in an unserviceable condition.
The Ministry said the fire broke out around 13:00 and immediately the officer on duty reported the smoke, which was coming through the roof of the building and requested fire rescue services to extinguish the blaze. “Even though the timely intervention of the fire fighters prevented the spread of the fire to adjacent buildings, the interior of the facility was seen engulfed in flames and all medical equipment and related material were reduced to ashes.”
According to the ministry’s statement, this fire extended the burden on national health services and some of the vehicles that were parked on the premises also suffered severe dents from being forcefully removed to avoid further damage to properties.
“The fire was brought under control around 15:00, but the response crews remained on the scene for the remainder of the day to monitor the situation and check for hot spots,” they added.
The ministry stated that there were no patients at the centre at the time of the fire and no casualties to the personnel on duty. Investigations are under way to ascertain the cause of the fire and the estimated loss.
The fire occurred at the Namibian Defence Force’s health facility, ‘Peter Mweshihange Military Health Centre’ located at Tobias Hainyeko Garrison military base in Windhoek’s Suiderhof suburb.
