Four-Year-Old Accidentally Burns Down Chief Wenondo's Bedroom in Bubi
By Southerton Business Times Reporter | BUBI
A thatched bedroom at Chief Wenondo's homestead in Tame Village, Bubi District, Matabeleland North Province, was destroyed by fire on Monday afternoon after a four-year-old boy allegedly started the blaze while playing with matches. No injuries were reported, but the fire destroyed household property, food supplies, school materials and important personal documents worth thousands of United States dollars.
According to the family, the incident occurred shortly after 4 pm while several children were playing amatope (mahumbwe) behind the bedroom hut. The children's grandmother was asleep in another hut, while other adults were away from the homestead. Preliminary accounts indicate that the four-year-old allegedly struck a match and threw it onto the thatched roof, which caught fire. The flames spread rapidly through the dry grass roof before the structure collapsed.
Chief Wenondo said the destroyed bedroom was shared by six children, most of whom were at school when the fire broke out.
"We lost important personal documents, including a national identity card, birth certificate and passport belonging to the boy's mother," he said.
He said the speed at which the fire spread left the family with no opportunity to salvage their belongings. Among the property destroyed were:
Two double beds
Two mobile phones
Clothing and school uniforms
School textbooks
Ten 50kg bags of maize
One 50kg bag of millet
Twenty-five metres of barbed wire
Inverters and amplifiers
Other household valuables
Chief Wenondo appealed to well-wishers, government agencies and members of the community to assist the family in replacing essential household items and food supplies.
"We lost many important things in the fire, including identification documents, food supplies, children's school uniforms and textbooks," he said.
"We are appealing for assistance so that we can replace some of the items that were destroyed."
He also urged parents and guardians to keep matches and other flammable materials out of the reach of young children to prevent similar incidents.
Bubi District Development Coordinator Mgcini Vellah said local authorities were coordinating assistance for the affected family. He confirmed that the district administration would facilitate the replacement of the mother's lost identity documents through the Civil Registry Department at no cost. Fire safety experts have repeatedly urged families living in thatched houses to keep ignition sources, including matches, lighters and candles, away from children, as thatched roofs can ignite and spread flames rapidly, particularly during the dry season. The cause of the fire is being treated as accidental.
Bubi house fire
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