South Africa: Investigations underway after Greenhouse bar fire incident in Sandton

By Omotayo Edubi

Investigations are currently underway to unravel the fire incident that gutted popular Sandton eatery and bar on Saturday night, and the management says it is fully co-operating with authorities and hoping to reopen soon.

In a statement, the management said eight people were taken to the hospital, six of whom were patrons and two staff members.

“To our knowledge, none of them suffered serious injuries. Management and staff took immediate action to contain the blaze and emergency services were on the scene shortly after the fire broke out,” it said.

No fatalities were reported.

The management said it has offered trauma counselling and medical assistance to all staff and will continue to provide the service as required.

“The Greenhouse bar remains concerned for the wellbeing of everyone who was present during the incident,” it said.

The day after the incident, Ameera Jappie, who was a witness, said the fire started when the ceiling, which is made from artificial grass, caught alight from sparks from party flares.

She said: “It was chaos. It was really bad, everything caught alight so fast.”

Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Nana Radebe said when they arrived at the scene about 10.22pm, the fire had already been extinguished.

“SAPS had taken over the scene,” she said.

The Greenhouse restaurant is situated at 24 Central, Sandton Johannesburg.