Fire at library service office in Beaufort West sees thousands of books destroyed.

A fire that broke out at the library service office in Beaufort West on Monday night saw thousands of books destroyed.

COURTESY: Firefighters South Africa

The office housed a plethora of books for distribution across the region and was the administrative support office for library service staff in Central Karoo.

The cause of the fire is unknown and no staff were on the premises at the time of the fire.

The Western Cape’s Cultural Affairs and Sport Department described the incident as ‘devastating.’

“The loss of any government services office is always devastating but more so when it is an office which brings books, knowledge and learning to people in an area where travelling distances between towns are long and transport is limited for the surrounding communities. This is a great tragedy for our department and we will look at ways to mitigate the challenge of not having the infrastructure in Beaufort West while we look at next steps,’’ said department head, Guy Redman

‘’The department will wait on the report as to the cause of the fire and will work together with our other local offices to find a way to continue service delivery in the area,’’ he added.

 

COURTESY: Firefighters South Africa

Done By: Mitchum George