Zinkwazi couple escapes fire unharmed

A Zinkwazi couple had a harrowing ordeal after a fire in their garage on Monday, December 9.
Tom and Tina Groom were woken up by the sound of their alarm in the early hours of the morning.
After failing to reset the alarm, Tom went down to investigate and found their bakkie was on fire.
“Tom managed to enter the garage by crawling in lower than the fire and drove the second vehicle out of the garage, clear of the fast approaching flames,” said neighbour Kathie Day.
Neighbours called the KwaDukuza fire and emergency services while Tina stayed in the home, which is not attached to the garage.
“Tina and her dogs hid behind a bed while she kept in contact with Tom, who was with the rest of us on the road. There were a number of mediocre explosions but the one that rocked Zinkwazi was when the bakkie’s petrol tank blew,” said Day.
The fire spread rapidly and Day said neighbours gathered on the side of the road, forced to watch as the garage went up in flames.
“One stroke of luck was that there was no wind or the fire could have spread to the neighbours garage just a couple of metres away.”
Day said KwaDukuza firemen arrived and quickly put the fire out.
They stayed behind for a while to make sure it did not spark again.
The Grooms are thankful that everyone, including the dogs, escaped unharmed.