Seven dogs perish in house blaze

LOW’S CREEK – A family watched in horror as the place they called home, with their seven beloved dogs still trapped inside, burned to the ground this past weekend. Their desperate attempts to save the animals were in vain, and all their possessions were destroyed in the blaze. “When my son Donovan (19) saw the fire, he attempted to run into the house to try rescue them, but the fire had consumed almost the entire house,” said Benildy Jacobsz, the owner of the house that is now just a mess of bent and burned steel structures.

“He got as far as the kitchen door to try and save the dogs, but the kitchen ceiling had started caving in.” Fire and asbestos being a deadly mix, he decided to retreat. “The asbestos had already started exploding and it was just too dangerous for anyone to try and go near,” she said. It is still unclear how the fire started. “It was around 15:00 on Saturday. I was visiting my mother, who lives across the road from me, when all of a sudden my Donovan and his friend sprinted towards us and screamed, telling us the house was engulfed in flames.”

They had been working in the yard around the house, when he turned around and made the harrowing discovery. Jacobsz’s mother, Sophie Jardim, said many community members living near Jacobsz had run up to the house with water to attempt to house the flames, but the family had to stop them due to the dangers of the asbestos. “Only the steel frame from the house is left. My daughter has been left with nothing. Not even a toothbrush,” said Jardim.

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Jacobsz said it was believed a community member had also seen the housefire and called the Matsulu Fire Department. “The fire brigade had to wait for the asbestos to stop exploding before they could get near the house and try to put the fire out.

They were there working on extinguishing the blaze for a while. I don’t know how long, though, because I just could not be at the house. It was too emotional for me.” Jacobsz said she had moved into the house 10 years ago, and was a homebody, rarely leaving it except to visit her mother and go on shopping trips.

“We could not save anything from the fire. Everything burned. All that is left is the steel frame of the house and the frames of the furniture,” she said. Jardim added that her home had also burned down 20 years ago, and to experience another housefire in the family in one lifetime was “absolutely devastating”.

Jacobsz’s brother, Danny Jardim, said the community living around his sister’s home had really helped out as much as they could. “People have been helping us clear the mess left from the fire and we have been really grateful for that.” He added that disaster management had also come out to Low’s Creek late on Saturday evening after the fire had been extinguished, to hand the family blankets and mattresses, and he thanked them for their assistance.

Sophie added that her daughter’s life revolved around helping children in the community and animals, stating she still had several larger dogs that had not been in the house on the day of the fire. Their five chihuahuas that Jacobsz had inherited from her father when he died three years ago, a Jack Russell and a Maltese that had been in her life for ten years, were burned beyond recognition.

To assist the family, Jacobsz may be contacted on 071 674 9449.

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