Salon fire tragedy: Help owner Shimone get back on her feet
After her salon burnt down, the owner got support from the community and Hot Cares. You can also help by donating to her BackaBuddy.
Losing your business to a fire is tragic and when this happened to Shimone Mostert in early January, she was left with nothing.
Fortunately, Hot Cares has since decided to lend a helping hand to Shimone to rebuild her beloved salon. However, she still needs the community’s support.
West Rand Emergency Services’ Regional Commander Gerhard Nieuwoudt said the fire appears to have started in the kitchen area on the ground floor of the hairdressing salon, where the roof had collapsed before their arrival.
• Also read: Fire turns salon business to ashes
“On inspection, we found that the heat from the fire seems to have caused the insulation of the air conditioning unit to burn through the wall and ignite the air conditioner inside the building that melted and dripped on a gas heater, igniting the gas in its pipes and burning the cabinet that had a second 9kg cylinder in it,” he explained.
As the Krugersdorp News reported the day her salon burned down was the eighth anniversary of its existence. After the fire, the community came together, and she had thousands worth of donations coming in from her BackaBuddy campaign which was launched.
”We appreciate everyone who has reached out and assisted us. It does not matter how small or big the donation is as long as it will make a difference,” Shimone said.
Dylan Rogers from HOT FM said that, unfortunately, the paperwork and investigation into the cause of the fire are still pending, which means that, despite her ongoing fundraising efforts, she cannot access any financial support until the cause is determined.
• Read the initial article here: Fire rips through building in Monument
“In the meantime, Shimone has found new premises, allowing her to continue serving her loyal clients and generate some income. Thanks to her community’s incredible generosity, she has gathered basic stock and equipment, but much must be done. Currently, she can only offer basic hair and nail services, but her ultimate goal is to fully rebuild. Shimone also ran a beauty treatment academy, which provided extra income, but she is unable to afford the necessary massage beds and stock to restart that, along with the mobile hair and makeup side of her business,” Dylan explained.
“To help Shimone get back on her feet, Hot Cares is committed to assisting her not only in her new premises but also as she works to get back on the road and rebuild her beauty academy. We will be providing essential equipment to help her restart her business, including three massage beds, portable cases for wedding callouts, and other items for her new premises such as extra hair towels, capes, a hood dryer, rollers, and beauty trolleys – all up to a total value of R30 000,” he excitedly said.
Shimone concluded she is extremely thankful for everything the community has done to support her, and residents can donate to her BackaBuddy here.
