ON Thursday, 11 June, a week after heroically battling a blaze in a tree to save his neighbourhood, brave Bluffite Keegan Verwey was awarded a trophy by Bluff Community Oriented Police (COP).
On Thursday, 4 June, while at least two other large fires raged on the Bluff, Kings Rest Road residents had their own fight on their hands, as a bush fire threatened their homes. Resident, Lee-Ann Smit said they had noticed smoke coming from the bushes below their home and went to investigate.
“At first it appeared to be a small fire, but suddenly it spread. The wind was terrible and it caused the fire to roar to life,” she said.
Calling for help, the small group of residents swelled in number as the fire grew in size. Smit, her family and other locals worked tirelessly to fight the fire. “At first there were a few of us, using hoses and buckets of water to douse the flames, then I looked again and there were so many people. All of us were working to protect our homes, which were right next to the bushes and flames,” said Smit.
It was then that she noticed someone had climbed a tree that had caught ablaze. “The tree was hanging over a garage and was threatening a home. If that house had caught alight, the rest would have followed suit. I saw someone working to combat the fire, despite the great risk, but could not see who it was.”
Only after nearly two hours of fighting the flames, when the worst was over, did she find out the person in the tree was her 15-year-old son, Keegan Verwey. “I was shocked and proud. Had I known it was him at the time, I probably would have panicked. But, he saved the home and probably all the homes in our road,” she said.
Verwey suffered minor burns to his chest and arms, but the humble teen said nothing of his experience and was surprised when COP presented him with an award for his bravery.
“He risked his life to assist in putting out the massive fire in the tree, while people below passed him buckets of water. He carried on regardless of people telling him to come down because it was getting too dangerous, with chunks of burning wood from the tree falling to the ground. COP presented Keegan with a trophy for his heroic deeds. Well done, you are a true life hero,” said COP chairman, Rake Jeeves.
