The historic Non-Pareille farm house in Roggeland, Paarl, in the Western Cape burnt to the ground on Saturday night, according to the volunteer fire fighters and rescue group Drakenstein Farm Watch.

The group posted on its Facebook page that despite joint efforts by the Paarl Fire brigade, district winelands fire brigade and the volunteer fire brigade, they were unable to “stop the inferno”.

“Around 6.10pm the Drakenstein farm watch emergency control centre received a whatsapp with an emergency call and picture of a distance fire. The sender of the message on the emergency hot line, Mr Georg Kirchner, the owner of a historic farm which burned in 2017, knew from experience that no time should be lost.

“The three fire fighting entities launched a big offensive, but despite the efforts the entire roof section and thatch and historic beams are lost,” the Drakenstein Farm Watch’s post read.

Drakenstein Farm Watch assisted with two 4x4 trucks, one of which carries 8,000 litres of water and is kitted with two water canons and a 700-litre skid unit.

The group said that the thatch roof caused so much heat that despite the efforts to save the building, it must be regarded as lost.

The rescue teams did, however, prevent the fire jumping to the neighbouring structures, which also have thatch.

“The reason of the fire is yet unknown. No personal injuries were injured,” said the post.