A FIRE engulfed a house on Austerville Drive just after 08:00 this morning (July 8), leaving a family of four in shock and their home severely damaged.

Also read: Wentworth woman loses everything in house fire

The fire is believed to have been caused by a heater which caught on fire and then spread to the bed in one of the sons’ bedrooms. The son noticed the fire was spreading rapidly and rushed to inform his parents who had already come out to see what was going on. The family immediately began attempting to douse the advancing flames with buckets of water that they had saved to use for the planned water outage in the area.

Despite their attempts, the fire quickly spread to the roof. Neighbours and people nearby also assisted the family by trying in vain to calm the blaze. One of the neighbours had a high-pressure hose that managed to tame the fire until the eThekwini Fire Department arrived and put the rest of it out.

The father and one son were taken to hospital for immediate care after they suffered smoke inhalation and minor burns. The mother and other son were physically unharmed but are traumatised by the experience and loss of most of their belongings.

For more details on this story, pick up the next edition of the Southlands Sun newspaper.

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