Generator causes house fire in Plantation
People must be cautious around using generators.
A house caught fire and the homeowner sustained severe injuries when a generator exploded, during the afternoon, at the Chelsea Lane complex in Plantation, on July 31.
Explaining to the Advertiser what occurred that afternoon, Wendy Strydom said there was a power outage and they decided to use a generator.
“My husband, Dirk, started the generator and we placed it outside the house next to our garage door. It worked fine for a short while but then switched off.
“Just after Dirk went to check what was happening there was a loud explosion. When we went outside we saw the house had caught fire and the impact of the explosion left my husband in the garage.
“He was taken to hospital by one of our neighbours because of his severe injuries and was admitted to ICU. I’m praying for him and asking others to do the same, please. While Dirk was taken to the hospital, the rest of the family tried to contain the fire, but it was too strong. What made it worse was that we didn’t have any fire extinguishers or a fire hydrant close by.
“An off-duty firefighter and other residents tried to help us to contain the fire, but our efforts proved futile and the fire spread to our kitchen.”
Wendy added that they then called the fire brigade.
“Firefighters arrived quite quickly but they struggled to contain the fire because they had to connect a hosepipe to a fire hydrant, which is far away from our house.
“They managed to eventually put the fire out. We are pleading with the metro to look into the shortage of the fire hydrants and get more installed in our area.”
The Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services spokesperson, William Ntladi, said the Boksburg Central firefighters received a call about the fire at the 16:12.
“Our firefighters were immediately dispatched and two fire engines arrived at the house at 16:23. They were assisted by a Germiston Fire Department fire engine.
“The firefighters worked together to stop the fire and were successful. The house was saved,” said Ntladi.
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