The  University of Fort Hare is investigating the cause of two fires at their campus in Alice that damaged two student rooms.
According to the university’s spokesman Lizo Phiti, the two rooms at the university’s Jolobe campus caught fire this week on Tuesday. No students were injured in the incidents.
The rooms damaged in the fires were allocated to sport and postgraduate students that normally remain on campus during holidays.
Phiti said no foul play was suspected. He said they suspected the fire was caused by electric appliances that may have been left on.
“Unless the fire was started by someone, at this stage we suspect some electric equipment, such as a heater, was left on,” said Phiti.
Phiti said the students who left for the holidays did not sign the rooms back to the residence wardens, meaning no inspections were conducted after they left.
“The fire did not go beyond those two rooms. The wardens were alerted to the fire and fire extinguishers were used to put it out,” said Phiti.
He said the matter was reported to the police for further investigation. However, the police were unable to enter the premises due to the striking staff who have locked the gates at the campus. An ongoing strike by staff has resulted in a heated standoff between Nehawu members and management over salary increases and other benefits. — arethal@dispatch.co.za..