A woman in East Lynne, Pretoria passed away yesterday after suffering severe burn wounds in a house fire which rocked the community last week Saturday. The community has taken hands to help repair the damaged house and support the family.

According to resident Susan Andrews, the fire broke out at around 13:00.

A family of five lived in the house and they were all home when the fire started. They were all able to get out of the house in time.

Their grandmother, Magda Lombard, went back into the burning house to try and salvage some of their belongings. She suffered severe burn wounds to her body and face and was immediately rushed to hospital.

Lombard spent several days in intensive care before she succumbed to her wounds.

The East Lynne community came together to help repair the family’s home, which was severely damaged in the fire.

Together they fixed the damaged walls, replaced the door and windows and repainted the entire house.

“It’s incredibly sad what happened to Magda and she will be dearly missed by everybody, but it was great to see the community come together and help the family.

“We started helping immediately after the fire. I think most of us thought Magda was going to make it, but now she is not here to see how much the community cares.

“We are a poor community, and we don’t have a lot, which makes this whole thing even more special to me,” says Andrews.

Andrews wants to extend a special thanks to resident Monique Breedt, who organised the help.

“She really went out of her way. She got everybody together and made sure everything was done to help the family,” she says.

The community will continue to support the family after their tragic loss.

Andrews says they will reach out to the family next week to find out how they can help them during this tough period. She says the actions of the East Lynne community show how strong a community can be when they work together on a common cause.