Woman dies in fire, residents work together to extinguish fire
"My wife went to our kitchen and noticed the house across from us was in flames."
Neighbours worked together on October 21 to extinguish a fire which claimed the life of a woman in BezValley.
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Amanda van Zyl (47) died after the fire broke out in the room she was renting on Terrace Road.
“Amanda has been living with us for 13 years now. She was a quiet woman who was a good tenant. We are saddened by her death,” said the son of the property owner, Giovanni-Paulo Evangelista.
According to Evangelista the fire started at around 1am.
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“We were sleeping and did not smell the smoke because her room was situated downstairs. Clr Carlos Da Rocha and his wife were the ones who came to our aid. They saw the fire from their home and came to the gate and started calling us. If they had come five minutes later the house could have burned to the ground and we could have all died,” said Evangelista.
He said da Rocha and the neighbours were amazing in how they extinguished the fire.
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“Neighbours came with buckets and everyone tried to get hose pipes so they could get the fire under control. By the time the fire brigade arrived the fire was almost out,” said Evangelista.
Da Rocha said he was impressed and proud to see how residents came together to extinguished the fire.
He said they became aware of the fire when they smelled something burning and started investigating.
“My wife went to our kitchen and noticed the house across from us was in flames. The entire bottom of the house was on fire,” explained da Rocha.
He said at the time it looked as if no one was aware of the fire.
“I ran around the block after my wife told me what was happening and realised that no one was aware of the fire. I started shouting for neighbouring residents to come and help. We used hose pipes and water buckets and battled the fire for more than ten minutes. The flames were horrendous and the heat from the flames was unbearable. Dozens od residents came to the rescue carrying all kinds of containers with water. It was a miracle that we managed to stop the fire before it actually burnt the house down completely and claimed more lives,” said da Rocha.
He said the community played a big role in extinguishing the fire.
“It’s a tragedy that Amanda lost her life, but it was a miracle that no one else became a victim of this fire. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the residents who assisted with this fire,” said da Rocha.
“Whenever tragedy strikes, the residents of Ward 66 always assist and I’m proud of the community that I represent. The unity between the residents and the unselfishness of residents in this ward are priceless,” said da Rocha.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and investigations are continuing.
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