WATCH: Fire guts Aston Manor home during water outage
Emergency services had to refill water at Glen Ballad Mall due to a five-hour water supply interruption in Aston Manor and surrounding areas.
An Aston Manor home burned down amid an emergency water shut down in the area on Thursday afternoon.
Fire engines had to go to Glen Balad Mall to fetch water to put out the blaze on Glenrollo Street.
Water was cut for at least five hours due to repairs on two burst pipes in the central business district.
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A cottage on Kathy and Craig Ducci’s property, which was rented by Ina Kruger, was gutted. She was inside the cottage when the fire started.
“I was in the sitting room when I smelt smoke. When I got up to see what was burning, I saw black smoke coming from my bedroom. When I got closer I saw the flames were already on my bed,” said Kruger.
“I tried to look for my cat but couldn’t find it and only managed to get hold of my dog and ran outside as the fire was spreading fast.”
It was later discovered the cat survived but Kruger’s parrot, Mia, didn’t survive the blaze.
“I have had Mia for 14 years and it breaks my heart that she didn’t make it. Mia was very talkative today and kept on saying ‘hello liefietjie’ but I couldn’t save her,” said Kruger.
The incident occurred at 1pm and fire engines from Kempton Park and Farrarmere in Benoni responded to the fire, just to find there was no water in the area.
“The fire engine and SSS Security had to go to Glen Ballad Mall for water,” said Kathy.
“Our domestic worker told us out of instinct she thought to use buckets and a hosepipe to try and put out the fire while it was still small but there was not a single drop in the taps. So there was nothing they could do but watch the house burn and wait for emergency services.”
SSS Security’s shift manager, Wiekus van Vollenstee, was the first to respond to the scene after receiving the call on the radio system. “I arrived within minutes of the call but the house was already well alight,” he said.
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A paramedic from SecPro Security, Stephan Henderson, said Kruger was treated for smoke inhalation and trauma.
Vanessa Erasmus, one of the neighbours, told Express she heard Kruger’s screams and when she went to look, saw the house on fire. She tried to assist as much as she could as well.
“I am very glad that I am alive. My dog and cat are safe and thank you to all the people who came out to assist and show us their support. They are truly God sent as they wanted to ensure that I was safe,” concluded Kruger hours after the fire was extinguished.
Express hadn’t received comment from Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) at the time of publishing.
