Delivery man is honoured for his bravery

A delivery man that instinctively grabbed extinguishers to help put out a fire at the Burger Box in Birch Acres, was honoured and congratulated for his bravery.

Allan Sauls, DA proportional councillor, visited the Burger Box where he met Wiseman Dlova, a nearby Spar delivery man, last week.

“He saw an emergency situation and unhesitatingly came to the aid of a fellow South African with no thought for his own safety,” Sauls said.

The fire, which started on the evening before supper on September 13 due to a malfunctioning chip fryer, devastated the inside of the building. This business, situated on Kwartel Road, was operational within two weeks again. Sauls said if Dlova did not act so fast, the damage to the restaurant and the entire centre would undoubtedly had been far worse.

Andrew Gonatas, owner of the Burger Box, was desperately fighting the fire at the chip fryer in his kitchen that was quickly burning out of control when Dlova rushed in to help.

Gonatas had sent his staff to safety and to move the large, full gas cylinders away from the heat to prevent an explosion. Although he had used all three of his fire extinguishers, he continued to battle the blaze in a desperate attempt to prevent the entire centre from going up in flames.

Dlova grabbed several more extinguishers to join Gonatas in fighting the fire.

They took turns to hose the fire down while blobs of burning oil and light fittings fell on their heads and arms. Eventually the two of them were able to extinguish the flames and save the other stores in the centre.

Gonatas, whose arms were badly burnt, said without the assistance and courage of Dlova, he would have had to give up to join his staff in the relative safety of the parking lot.