Family escapes inferno

Four youngsters, who woke up to a raging fire in their bedroom on August 3, rushed out screaming and narrowly escaped the inferno with the rest of their family.

Ms Khanyi Ndaba, a nurse at Park Lane Clinic, said she was at work when she received a call about a fire at home.

“I rushed home. When I arrived and saw the damage caused to our house in Persimmon Street I assumed everyone was dead. It was terrible. Everything was burnt. I was so thankful when I found out my family was alive. My sister’s children were sleeping in one of the rooms. They saw the fire in their room and ran into the passage screaming. My sister, Ms Thabile Hlatshwayo, ran out of her room and realised what was happening. She opened the entrance door and everyone fled out of the house,” said Ms Ndaba. She said two of the four children in the house at the time sustained burn wounds.

“They are okay now. Everyone who was in the house at the time was traumatised. One of my nephews is now staying with a friend. He refuses to come back because he is scared. I am just grateful that everyone is okay,” said Ms Ndaba.

Ms Nana Radebe, from City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) Department, said the cause of the fire could not be immediately determined.

“We took about two hours to extinguish the fire. Every room was completely burnt out except for the kitchen,” she said.

The family, which includes another boy, a woman and a man are now living in the garage. EMS took emergency packs to the occupants of the house.

“We are coping. Non-profit organisations donated clothes and food. We are staying in the garage because we have nowhere else to go. We need anything people can part with because everything we had was burnt,” said Ms Ndaba.

This was the first of two fires that took place last week. Another fire broke out at a house in Tucker Street, Cleveland.

Ms Castarina Khoza said a fire erupted at her property on Monday last week.

“I was called by neighbours and told there was a fire. They put out the fire with water, however by then most of the rooms and the garage were burnt. There was a lot of damage. Thank goodness my children and tenants were not at home. My tenants lost all their belongings and the car in the garage was burnt a little as well,” she said.

Clr Alison van der Molen, ward 118, and Mrs Gaynor Paynter, ward 118 committee public safety representative, managed to collect some clothes and other items for these families last week. They urge members of the community to donate anything that will be of help to the people who were affected.

Clr Van der Molen also urged people to check electrical wiring, use stoves and other appliances safely and be careful when lighting fires to cook and keep warm.

“There were shack fires in my ward earlier this winter and now houses have burnt down. I urge people to be careful. I also commend EMS and disaster management officials for their efficiency and quick response to the victims,” she said.

Ms Radebe said compared to last year, there have been fewer fires in Johannesburg. EMS increased its public information and education programmes to educate people about fires.

During winter last year, EMS responded to about 400 reported fire incidents in informal settlements. A total of 103 people died. Mr Robert Mulaudzi, EMS spokesperson, previously stated that unforeseen circumstances are preventable if people use proper cooking and lighting equipment and know how to identify the risks in their houses and remove them.

Fires are mostly caused by:

r lighting and heating appliances that are not regulated by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS). In most cases they explode and start fires.

r Candles that are not placed in proper candle safety jars to prevent them from falling.

r Using open fires for cooking in a confined space with highly flammable materials.

r Imbaula (braziers) which are the cause of death when people inhale toxic smoke.

r Illegal electricity connections which can cause electrocution.