Bergvliet's Restorabilia suffers major damage in workshop fire

The owner of a well-known furniture design business in Bergvliet said they were working hard to restore power and are assessing the extent of the damage caused by a fire that broke out on Thursday, October 16.

According to City Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse, firefighters were called to Restorabilia at 6.40am and managed to bring the blaze under control shortly thereafter. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Mr Carelse said the fire caused substantial damage to the property, but no injuries were reported.

Restorabilia, founded in 1983 by Nick and Marcelle Harding, started as a small workshop restoring vintage furniture and grew into a leading custom furniture studio, known for its bespoke, handcrafted pieces.

Mr Harding said he received a call at about 7am from a friend whose wife had seen smoke coming from the building.

“Firefighters responded quickly and, within about half an hour, had extinguished the blaze, saving all our woodworking machines,” he said.

“I’m very grateful for their prompt and efficient action, which essentially saved our business.”

Mr Harding, who was in Knysna at the time, said the fire appeared to have started in the spray-painting area, though the cause has not yet been confirmed.

“Nothing is on electrically there, so I assume some sort of spontaneous combustion took place, but we’re not sure,” he said.

He added that a significant amount of work in progress was damaged, and about 20% of the building was affected.

“We’re still assessing the extent of the losses,” he said. “The building was quite badly damaged where the fire was strongest, but it is insured.”

Restorabilia employs eight full-time staff and several casual workers. Mr Harding said his immediate priority is to restore power so production can resume. “Until then, I have no way of keeping everyone actively employed, so it’s quite urgent,” he said.

Mr Harding said the incident came as a shock and said they had experienced a fire about 12 years ago at the wood store across the road but the Restorabilia premises has never had a fire in the last 40 years.

He said once power was restored, the next step would be to rebuild the damaged section and restore the finishing department.

“The insurance claim will take up a good deal of my time in the short term,” he said.