BREAKING NEWS: Cat allegedly scorched to death in Sophiatown fire
SOPHIATOWN – Fire leaves two families homesless.
Two Sophiatown families have lost everything in a fire that engulfed their homes on 20 August.
“The flames were so high that they were coming out of the roof,” a neighbour Steve van Zyl said.
Sophiatown police and the fire brigade were on the scene quickly and managed to extinguish the fire in the complex in Johannes street, but not before the homes and roofs of the houses were blackened and destroyed beyond repair.
Firemen said it took about 45 minutes to douse the blaze. A fireman was also injured in the fire, but he is in a stable condition at Garden City Private Hospital.
Randall Carlz who rents the one destroyed home said he had randomly decided to make a stop at home. “I don’t know why I came,” he said.
“When I arrived the woman next door was sitting on the wall saying, ‘Don’t go in, the place is burning’. My place was still clear but within minutes the fire engulfed it too.”
Carlz is philosophical about losing all his possessions. “Life happens,” he said. “What can we do?”
Carlz’ neighbour Ferdi Joubert helped him rescue his dogs while his home
was burning. “The smoke was so bad you couldn’t see the house from the street, but Ferdi went in and rescued them,” Carlz said.
Another family’s cat was allegedly scorched to death. They were too distraught to speak.
More updates to follow.
