West family trapped in burning house
The fire broke out around 4:30 on Tuesday in Mimosa Avenue, Proclamation Hill.
A Pretoria West resident recently opened up about her traumatic experience when she and her family were trapped in their burning home.
Keneilwe Maleka said the fire at her home in Mimosa Avenue, Proclamation Hill broke out around 04:30, on Tuesday morning.
“I woke up when I heard a noise that sounded like someone was fiddling with something,” she said.
“Immediately I thought it was my son and when I wanted to get up to tell him to stop I just heard him screaming that there was a fire.”
Maleka said the fire originated in the backyard building where her son lives, and from there the flames spread to the lapa then the main house.
“The house was basically destroyed. Only the living room escaped the fire, but there is still damage to the walls and the roof,” she said.
What was worst for this family was that for a while, they remained trapped in the house without an escape route.
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“The moment I realised that there was a fire, I first thought of the gas bottles in the backyard and that I had to remove them as soon as possible,” she said.
“I also ran to the vehicles to try to move them away from the flames.”
She said as she was in the car, the roof had collapsed onto it.
“When I got back into the house and realised the house key was gone it was already too late and the flames were already in the house.
“I couldn’t get back to the vehicles and the front gate was closed.”
Thanks to good Samaritans living in the street, they soon jumped in to help the family.
Resident Sonja Theron said Maleka had phoned her to ask for help.
“Fortunately, my husband managed to pull the gate to get the family out,” she said.
Several other residents also helped, Maleka says.
“My dad, who was in a wheelchair, couldn’t get out of his room and residents carried him out.”
She said residents even rescued her dog trapped in the backyard.
Maleka says they were not exactly sure what caused the fire.
Theron said the community has already started collecting donations for the family.
She said the neighbours were temporarily housing the family.
For more information about the programme, Lubbe can be contacted on alicelubbe@telkomsa.net.
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