Zuko Komisa
- Fire marshals pinpointed a single guest room on the seventh floor as the starting point.
- The fire quickly breached the room, spreading horizontally and to the floor above.
- All 181 occupants were evacuated while crews used internal water systems to halt the spread.
Investigators have traced the origin of Wednesday night’s destructive fire at the Premier Hotel near OR Tambo International Airport to a specific guest room on the seventh floor.
The blaze, which triggered a massive emergency response, rapidly spread to adjacent rooms and the eighth floor before being contained by City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) firefighters.
Ekurhuleni EMS spokesperson William Ntladi confirmed that while the building was shrouded in smoke upon their 11:20 PM arrival, the primary fire activity was concentrated on the upper levels.
Firefighters transitioned from search and rescue to suppression after tracing the flames to the seventh floor unit, where the fire had gained significant momentum.
To combat the high-altitude risk, crews from four stations connected hoses to the hotel’s internal wet riser pipelines, effectively pinning the fire to the seventh and eighth floors to prevent a total loss of the structure.
One guest had to be rescued directly from a seventh-floor balcony as the fire and smoke compromised exit paths.
Despite the rapid spread from the room of origin, a final roll call at the assembly point confirmed that all 158 guests and 23 staff members were safe.
Two guests, aged 60 and 41, received on-site treatment for smoke inhalation but were not hospitalized.
While the location of the fire has been established, the specific ignition source within the guest room remains under investigation.
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