Next door hero saves dogs from burning house

On Sunday afternoon a fire started in a house in Salt Rock, and although the owners were not home, their two dogs were locked inside the house.

Luckily for them, their hero was just next door.

Michael Fann was standing on his veranda when a by-passer alerted him of smoke coming out from inside the house.

“I ran down to the house and you could hear plates and glass breaking in the kitchen where the fire started,” said Fann.

He initially thought someone was in the house, but then he noticed the two dogs trapped in the lounge area.

“The roof was starting to collapse and I was not sure how safe it was to enter the house.”

He used a hosepipe to try and control the blaze while waiting for the KwaDukuza Fire Department to arrive.

“A man from Bruce’s Driving School was driving past and stopped to assist me.”

The fire department used a crowbar to open one of the windows and Fann jumped in to rescue the two pets.

“My only concern was to get the dogs out of there,” he said.

Fann said he managed to find someone to contact the owners of the house.

“They left last week for a trip overseas and have cut their holiday short to come back home.”

The dogs are being looked after by neighbours.

Paul Herbst from IPSS Medical Rescue said the dogs were not injured in the fire.

“The house was being looked after by house sitters who were not there at the time of the fire,” said Herbst.

Herbst said thanks to KwaDukuza Fire Department’s swift response they had the blaze under control and prevented it from spreading to the rest of the house.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage and will be investigated.