The Eagle's Nest Fire - by Sara Dewar
On 1st September 2019 at 6.30am I received a phone call from Jon Sparkes, a shareholder at Eagle’s Nest. “Morning Sara” he said “I am sorry to tell you that I am watching Eagle’s Nest burn down!” The first thought was….. "is everyone OK?" Then "how on earth did it happen?"
Apparently the guests had been enjoying coffee and rusks on the front veranda, watching a herd of elephants, after which they made their way to the game drive vehicle parked under the porte couchere. Once in the entrance they notices that the front seats of the vehicle were alight and as they turned to run back, grabbing their cameras and binoculars off the table next to the front door, the thatch caught alight.
The speed of the fire was absolutely frightening – dry thatch at the end of winter took hold and the entire building was gone in 20 mins. The guests managed to throw some chairs and a coffee table off the front veranda and one person dashed into the kitchen to rescue a vintage bottle of red wine! Only one cast iron cooking pot survived the inferno and by the time the Mashatu fire fighting vehicle arrived the building had been razed to the ground. The heat of the fire was intense as one can see from some of the pictures below - even melting glassware!
Two guests, who had slept in that morning, were quickly roused and the party were taken through to Mashatu Lodge with a very devastating story to tell. Luckily the bedroom units were spared so they were able to recover clothes and personal items and later that day came back to Johannesburg.
And so started the 20 month rebuild of the main building after the insurance claim had been settled and just in time for the Covid lockdown that meant it was built entirely from photographs supplied by the builder. Regular visits to inspect the property were impossible, as the borders were closed for much of that time, and the logistics of replacing furniture and household items was further hampered by lockdown and supplier issues.
But everything finally came together and we were delighted to welcome our first guests back to camp on 07 April 2021!
On 1st September 2019 at 6.30am I received a phone call from Jon Sparkes, a shareholder at Eagle’s Nest. “Morning Sara” he said “I am sorry to tell you that I am watching Eagle’s Nest burn down!” The first thought was….. "is everyone OK?" Then "how on earth did it happen?"
Apparently the guests had been enjoying coffee and rusks on the front veranda, watching a herd of elephants, after which they made their way to the game drive vehicle parked under the porte couchere. Once in the entrance they notices that the front seats of the vehicle were alight and as they turned to run back, grabbing their cameras and binoculars off the table next to the front door, the thatch caught alight.
The speed of the fire was absolutely frightening – dry thatch at the end of winter took hold and the entire building was gone in 20 mins. The guests managed to throw some chairs and a coffee table off the front veranda and one person dashed into the kitchen to rescue a vintage bottle of red wine! Only one cast iron cooking pot survived the inferno and by the time the Mashatu fire fighting vehicle arrived the building had been razed to the ground. The heat of the fire was intense as one can see from some of the pictures below - even melting glassware!
Two guests, who had slept in that morning, were quickly roused and the party were taken through to Mashatu Lodge with a very devastating story to tell. Luckily the bedroom units were spared so they were able to recover clothes and personal items and later that day came back to Johannesburg.
And so started the 20 month rebuild of the main building after the insurance claim had been settled and just in time for the Covid lockdown that meant it was built entirely from photographs supplied by the builder. Regular visits to inspect the property were impossible, as the borders were closed for much of that time, and the logistics of replacing furniture and household items was further hampered by lockdown and supplier issues.
But everything finally came together and we were delighted to welcome our first guests back to camp on 07 April 2021!
