Family devastated after five members perish in Kirkney house fire

Family members of the five people who perished in a fire in Mount Anderson Street in Kirkney, Pretoria West on Wednesday, have been left devastated by what happened.

Tshwane emergency service spokesperson, Charles Mabaso, said four siblings aged 6, 18, 22 and 24 and a domestic worker (46) lost their lives in the fire.

A mother (45) and her toddler (3) managed to escape the fire with minor injuries.

Sello Mondlane, a family member, said the entire family was saddened by the incident.

“I cannot even express how we feel but what happened here. It is very sad. I just do not know what to say. We have not seen the ones that survived, they are at the hospital but we will soon be checking up on them.”

A neighbour who assisted the family, Simon Motaung, said he received a call from the owner of the house asking him to go to the house as it was on fire.

“I was at work when I received the call and when I arrived, the house was engulfed in flames. I heard people screaming inside. I went to the main bedroom and I broke the window with a spade. I tried to break the burglar bars on the windows but I couldn’t.

“My wife brought an axe and only then I managed to break through. The lady who stays here brought the baby through the window and I managed to take the baby out. I went back to assist the lady and she managed to get out as well.”

Motaung said when he went back for the third time, he could not manage to go in because the flames were too fierce, suffocating him.

“I feel very bad about what happened to my neighbours.

“I am really feeling bad, I have known them for two months, but they were good people and we were communicating every day. I used to stay here when I was renovating my house, so I really feel bad about the whole thing.

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“The mother was very traumatised when she got out. She could not even talk, she was just lying on the ground.”

Motaung said residents in the area suspected that the fire might have started because of the load-shedding but he was unsure what happened.

“I don’t know what started the fire, even the lady could not explain the cause of the fire. So far, no one knows what happened here but some people blame load-shedding.”

Mabaso said they were waiting for a report from their fire safety officer to determine what led to the fire. The report was expected to be completed by Friday.

“Our fire safety officer was there for a fire cause-determination and we will hear from him whether he did manage to point out as to what caused the fire. At the moment, we do not have details.”

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