Glencoe resident, Carol Engelbrecht, has spoken of her family’s terrifying ordeal when a raging veld fire surrounded their house on their Friday afternoon.
She said the fire started opposite the shunting yard of Transnet.
“I went through the bushes to check where the smoke was coming from and found it spreading at a fierce rate toward our house and Josef Kirk’s property. He did inform the fire brigade, but they were not sure where we are situated. Mr Kirk could only access the fire from one end and that was on his property.
“The fire brigade did arrive on Mr Kirk’s property but what they did there, I do not know because by then the fire spread at an alarming speed with the wind changing directions, towards our house. Our house is surrounded by fields of high dry grass, putting us smack in the middle of this raging fire.
“The fire brigade did not come to help us at all. My friend phoned them four times telling them we are in great danger. The operator told her that are not allowed to send out more than one truck and she doesn’t know where they are at the moment. My husband, myself my eldest son and my two employees had to fight this fire from all ends around the house. I have two very high palm trees in the yard, the flames were as high as these trees.
“The one palm tree set alight all over. The wind blowing hard made big pieces of bark to shoot off the tree onto the grass, on us and our vehicles. It looked like charcoal pieces that were flying around. Huge leaves from the tree were also falling off, setting our front lawn alight.These pieces burnt a couple of holes into our clothes.
“My husband had to use a ladder and the high pressure sprayer to stop this. The flames were not our only concern. Huge clouds of smoke made it impossible to see, burning our eyes and our lungs. My friend Suzan and her mom Helen came to take the children to safety. I was afraid they might die in this fire and from the smoke. We managed to save ourselves, our animals vehicles and house from this fire with our tiny hoses, buckets of water and wet towels. I have never been so afraid I my life. I would rather face a murderer than what happened.”
The Endumeni Fire Brigade has been contacted for a response to the allegations and will, hopefully, reply tomorrow.
