Garage, car gutted by fire

A fire at the Westenburg residence occupied by the family of former Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) Chairperson Snowy Kennedy gutted the garage and a luxury car on Sunday morning.
The incident resulted in an emergency mid-morning call that dragged Kennedy from proceedings at Touch ‘n Angel Ministries – which she established in 2012 with women and children as main target group – to rush home to witness the damages.
According to her the call from her one daughter, Kathleen with whom she shares the house along with her stepson as well as two grandsons and two adopted boys aged between 12 and 23 years, had urged her to leave the house as there was a fire raging. By the time she had reached home the fire was already attended to, she said and added that two fire trucks and an ambulance responded swiftly.
Being confronted by the scene was like “somebody broke my back in half”, Kennedy remarked in an interview afterwards. It was not yet clear what could have caused the fire, she indicated at the time. It was learnt that the fire started in the right hand corner of the garage and in the end caused the roof to collapse. The blue BMW that was parked in the garage and was destroyed in the fire belonged to her grandson who received the vehicle from his mother.
The activity at the house at 44 Raphael Street attracted much attention, also that of a group of teen boys who are members of a football club which Kennedy established and who were on their way to go collect kits and balls stored in the garage. She explained that they had rushed to help save what they could.
Kennedy mentioned that it was a year to the day they had buried her son. At that point she paused to share a life truth; that the only time life matters is when one is alive. “Anything you do, do to the fullest.“

Story/photo: YOLANDE NEL
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