WATCH: Witpoortjie neighbours unite to save house from being gutted by fire
An hour had elapsed since the fire department had been called but still they had not arrived.
Too often the focus is given to the negative conflicts within our society, yet little is said when diverse members of the community unite for good. Ingenuity, experience and community spirit combined to save a family home on Java Street on Wednesday, 2 September.
After returning home from a morning errand, Pieter Steyn immediately identified the telltale signs of house fire. “I know just by smell whether it is plastic, veld or wood,” chuckled the Witpoortjie resident. As neighbours began to gather, the 62-year-old civil service veteran sent a younger member of the party sprinting back to his house to retrieve his long hosepipe.
The fire began to rage in the left-hand side of the house and after ensuring the safety of the elderly couple that were home that day, Pieter and the other neighbours began their efforts. “First we moved the cars that were in front of the garage, then we pushed everything that was in the garage out the way,” recalled Pieter.
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Hardly equipped to battle a blaze, the now over 10-man group used buckets and domestic hoses to isolate the fire and keep it from engulfing the whole house. “We didn’t have a proper connection for the hose so one guy wrapped his hands tight around the outlet. There wasn’t much pressure but it worked,” praised Pieter.
An hour had elapsed since the fire department had been called but still they had not arrived. It would later be revealed that the engine that would arrive later that afternoon had come all the way from Malvern, east of Johannesburg. Residents were left lamenting the slow response time and believe if it were not for neighbourhood intervention, the elderly couple may have perished and the whole house been lost.
City of Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, explained the delay, saying, “Due to the shortage of fire engines we have been experiencing throughout the city, we are forced to place them strategically so that we can respond to emergencies effectively. However, this arrangement might now and then hamper our response times because of the distance to where the emergency is.”
This was not Pieter’s first brush with bravery as he received a presidential decoration for his efforts during the Westdene bus disaster in 1985. The cause of the fire is still unknown, and the elderly couple were treated for smoke inhalation. One half of the house is completely destroyed, but thanks to brave neighbours, part of the family home was saved.
