Tragedy as fire rages through Villa Gloria

Tragedy struck on September 9 when a massive fire broke out at several living quarters at Villa Gloria in Oatlands. Although the fire could be contained and many of the dwellings saved, some families lost everything in the fire.

• Also read: Number of fire incidents on the increase

According to the Mogale Response Services, a call about a structural fire was received at 19:50 on September 9. When the fire brigade arrived the fire had already spread to several of the structures and other surrounding structures were also in danger of catching fire. At 01:25 on September 10, the fire was finally contained.

Although several patients with mild to severe injuries were treated, there we no fatalities. We would like to thank all entities and individuals for their assistance during this devastating fire,” Mogale Response Services’ Facebook post read.

Supervisor at Villa Gloria Jackie van Jaarsveld explained that about 17 of the living spaces burned down.

According to her, there was load-shedding at the time. She lives on a corner and was inside her house when she heard someone screaming that one of her back rooms was on fire.

When she went outside she saw a family exiting one of the homes with their children.

“There was no electricity for us to start the pump to get water,” she explained. The residents did however try to put out the fire with the water they had and by using sand. But it was quickly getting out of control when a large tree caught fire they decided to start to evacuate all the residents from their homes.

Although many reports state that the fire was due to a gas bottle exploding, Van Jaarsveld explained that the gas bottle did explode but it was due to the fire that was already raging out of control. Only one person was injured in the fire.

Villa Gloria has been there for more than 20 years and Van Jaarsveld has lived there almost from the start. She said that the people there are as close to her as family and that it pains her to see them suffer. Like one big family, they stood together and according to Van Jaarsveld, all of the families who lost their homes have found a safe place to stay with family or friends either inside the camp or outside.

She further explained that there are more than 120 living spaces on the property with more than 300 people, including children, living there at any given time. For those who could not move in with family, a community hall and the daycare centre at Villa Gloria have been made into living spaces.

Van Jaarsveld also said that they have been inundated with support from the community and although they are now busy trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild, she wanted to thank everyone for their love, support and prayers.

We appreciate it but I know the people appreciate it more.”

After the fire one of the night security guards brought Van Jaarsveld a page from a Christian book. This page was found among the smouldering debris and it spoke about how the things that may seem insignificant to the world, are exactly the things that God asks of His people – even the smallest act can mean the world to someone else.

The News will follow up with details on where you can get involved to help and also elaborate on the help this small community has already received.