West Street fire took hours to extinguish: Firefighter
Approximately 22 firefighters, four trucks and two water tankers were needed to tackle the inferno that raged through a building in central Durban last night.
Central fire station division commander, Trevor Stevens has told Newswatch that the fire which began before 18h00 - gutted an entire floor of Redefine Towers - commonly known as 320 West Street.
"We basically got the south wing - in other words - the West Street side of the block, the entire 25th floor is burnt. One of the major problems we have with all the security obviously every office has got security bars and gates and sliding gates and that sort of thing so every office we had to cut our way in," he said.
Stevens says his team of firefighters faced a number of challenges at the Pixley ka Seme Street building. He says initially - the fire had been confined to just two offices.
He says they had to wait for help from a maintenance worker - who switched the building's water pumps on.
The damage to Redefine Towers - the skyscraper commonly known as 320 West Street - is still being assessed. No one hurt in the fire.
ICYMI: Watch below fire breaks out at iconic West Street building