Heroic community risk their lives to save neighbour
AUCKLAND PARK–The community worked together to rescue a women trapped in a burning house.
On the evening of 16 July, Jan de Jonge put two of his four children to bed, when he noticed fire emanating from his neighbour’s house across the road, along Hampton Drive. After alerting his wife he immediately rushed to the house and was the first to arrive at the scene.
“When I arrived on the scene I called Anna Marie’s name to determine her location. I noticed there was no fire in the room she was trapped in but it was covered in a cloud of smoke. I attempted to break the window but could not get past the burglar bars. This is how I cut my hands from the broken glass. At this point, I decided to use a hosepipe to try and calm the fire. That is when Andile Andiswa Security company arrived,” said De Jonge.
De Jonge said that Anna Marie van Leeuwen (69) informed him there were two gas heaters, in boxes, in the her sitting room and that one of the boxes exploded.
Andile Andiswa Security guard, Lucky Dube, was hired by City Parks to patrol around the Kingston Tidston Park, which is close to Hampton Drive. Dube said that while he was patrolling, he heard a loud scream for help. He assumed it came from someone at the park but he couldn’t find anyone.
“I decided to run down Hampton Drive with my colleague and that is when I noticed the fire coming from the house. When we arrived at the property we noticed De Jonge had smashed the window and was using a hosepipe. We managed to collect four fire extinguishers from neighbours and used them when accessing the house. Along with resident, Sifiso Langa, we looked for the woman, after we managed to break the front burglar bar,” described Dube.
Sifiso Langa was alerted about the fire – not so far from his home – on the community WhatsApp group. He responded immediately to the message and headed to the house. Langa said when he arrived there were many cars around and residents were watching from outside the property.
“Along with the help of Andile Andiswa Security, we were able to break the security barrier that leads into the sitting room; I managed to get into her room and rescue her. I commend the great work done by the security company to ensure her safety,” explained Langa.
Resident De Jonge said he believes in helping people in need and was glad to see the entire community working together to help Van Leeuwen.
Related articles: Update: Auckland Park community rescue neighbour from burning house
