Wendy home narrowly escapes west fire
“The fire spread into our backyard and I was not sure if we would be able to stop it in time.”
A family from the west of Pretoria had a close call this past week when a neighbouring field caught fire.
“The fire spread into our backyard and I was not sure if we would be able to stop it in time,” said homeowner of the house in Paff Street, Bella Brussel.
Brussel had a Wendy house in her backyard where a woman was staying.
The woman, however, was not home at the time when the fire broke out.
Brussel told Rekord that the fire broke out on Monday afternoon between 12:00 and 13:00.
“The dogs started barking as they usually do when there is someone in the field,” she said.fire spread across Brussel’s backyard. Photo: Kayla van Petegem
Brussel was referring to a field next to their property.
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“I went to go check what was going on because they were barking continuously,” she said.
“When I got outside I saw someone in the field looking at a bicycle that someone threw away.”
She said once she realised what the dogs were barking at, she tried to calm them down and turned around to go back into the house.
“My foot was not even in the door when I heard a bang,” she said.
“When I turned around, I just saw flames that was busy spreading and the person that was in the field ran away.”
“We suspect that he deliberately set the fire.”
She said several residents assisted them in an attempt to extinguish the fire.
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“However, there was a small breeze, which made the fire spread even more,” she said.
“Luckily, thanks to a team effort, we were able to stop the fire before the Wendy caught fire.”
Resident of the Wendy, Johanna Puti said the only damages the Wendy suffered, was some scorch marks.
“None of my belongings got damaged in the fire,” she said.
The news of the fire spread like wildfire among the west community.
On Tuesday night, local ward councillor of the area, Elma Nel, and several other good Samaritans of the area paid a visit to the property.
“As usual the community came together to help someone in need,” Nel said.
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“A second-hand Wendy home was donated to Johanna by the community and they already started helping to set it up on Tuesday evening.”
She said XXX Towing and Emergency Support Team assisted to make the donation possible.
“XXX Towing assisted to bring the Wendy to the residence,” she said.
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