Fire guts Nico
- Inferno exposes fire-fighting equipment crisis
One of the symbols of Malawi’s investment drive—Nico House in Blantyre—went up in flames on Friday, nearly bringing business in the commercial city’s central business district (CBD) to a halt.
The blaze to the iconic headquarters of Malawi Stock Exchange-listed Nico Holdings Limited also exposed the mediocrity that is the country’s firefighting equipment services as the angry inferno smirked at the ineffectual apparatus deployed to douse it.
It was only the heroism of fighters from Blantyre City Council Fire Brigade—who at times looked willing to sacrifice their own lives for the building—that minimised the damage to the financial services complex.
Nearby shops and offices were forced to close as hundreds of people flooded the imposing three-storey building that housed subsidiaries of Nico Holdings Limited—Nico Life, Nico General and Nico Pension—and NBS Bank.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, but an official said it started from a kitchen on the top floor.
Nico management was also mute on the cause, but a legal officer, Steven Kanyoza, told the media the firm would issue a statement later.
It took almost three hours for the fire brigade, who at some point appeared to have been overwhelmed with the intensity, to completely extinguish the inferno which started around 2pm.
The fire engines scampered to different directions to douse the spreading flames. The personnel also made several trips to refill the fire brigade engines, which had a cumulative capacity of 5 100 litres, with water.
On the other side of the building, onlookers intervened by throwing stones on the building to break the window panels to help the water horses reach the raging spots.
Some firefighters dared the situation by entering the building with their horse to fight the spreading fire. The blaze extensively wrecked the imposing building along Haile Selasie Avenue.
Patients admitted to a nearby Shifa Private Hospital in Fatima Arcade Building. which also houses offices of the Registrar General and the popular KFC Restaurant, among others, were quickly evacuated from the facility’s wing that borders Nico House to another wing.
BCC chief fire officer Prescot Sailas said: “Despite facing challenges we managed to successfully put out the fire.”
No casualties were reported.
Nico House stands about 100 meters from the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) which also got burnt in 2013 and until today it has not been renovated.
Nico Holdings Limited is 34.24 percent owned by the public (Malawi and foreign), Nico employees trust (Malawi and foreign) own 1.1 percent, International Finance Corporation (IFC) has 11.65 percent, SEM 25.1 percent and Africap LLC with 27.91 percent.
