A man was taken to hospital after sustaining serious burns during a house fire on February 19 in Florida Park, Johannesburg.

The man was hosting a birthday party for his young daughter when the fire broke out at the Snell Drive home shortly before 16:00.

Reports from onlookers in the street suggest the party was coming to an end and while parents were collecting their children, a large explosion occurred.

City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services, Emergency Control South Africa and ComMed attended the scene and had the blaze extinguished by 18:00.

The badly burned man was taken to hospital while two others were treated for smoke inhalation.

Neighbours have made provisions for the family who have lost much of their belongings in the fire. Other than much of the four bedroom residential structure, four automobiles that were in the driveway were also completely destroyed.

“The cause of the fire incident is still a subject of investigation. We encourage all our residents to look after any devices which might cause fire incidents at home and to not leave them unattended while in use so that we can prevent fires at home,” said Robert Mulaudzi, emergency services spokesperson.